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Eric WoodyardESPN
Wednesday night in a Fiserv forum without fans, it looked as usual like members of the Detroit Pistons and Milwaukee Bucks in the middle court for a normal tip.
After the reigning MVP, Giannis Antetokounmpo, got the first possession for the Bucks, both teams, including the coaching staff on the sidelines, took a knee. They repeated the act as soon as the Pistons got the ball too.
The peaceful act took place a day after prosecutors in Kenosha, Wisconsin, decided not to hand over the police officers in the shooting of Jacob Blake in August. Nearly five months earlier, the Bucks had boycotted Game 5 of their first-round playoff game against the Orlando Magic on August 26 from Orlando, Florida, in response to Blake’s shooting. The boycott was the beginning of a three-day hiatus in the NBA.
Bucks players were in constant contact during a group discussion on Tuesday and expressed their frustrations and concerns about the verdict. There were frequent conversations about what they wanted to do before deciding on the kneeling gesture.
Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said he also spoke to some members of the team after the 125-115 victory over the Pistons on Monday in anticipation of the verdict Tuesday.
“Hopefully we all listen and learn all and we all grow,” Budenholzer said. “But without a doubt, I as a coach and I work with a lot of wonderful people, especially young African-American men, for whom these things are very important, and they have had their own personal experiences that they shared individually with me or jointly with us. “group, you can not help but sit and listen and grow, sympathize. Know that you can probably never really really understand what many people have experienced besides myself, we try to do better.”
Blake, who is black, was shot seven times on August 23 by Kenosha police officer Rusten Sheskey, who is white. Blake was left paralyzed. The shooting, which took place in front of Blake’s three children and was captured on video, caused major protests in Kenosha, with more than 250 people arrested during a few days of unrest.
The other two police officers at the scene – Brittany Meronek and Vincent Arenas – will also not face charges, according to Michael Graveley, district attorney in Kenosha.
Bucks, Brook Lopez, spoke before Wednesday’s game and described a sense of “helplessness” after learning of the verdict.
“It’s disappointing, of course. Very discouraging. I personally feel helpless. I can not imagine that I was in the position of Jacob Blake or his family or people who were or will be in similar situations at that stage.” “Lopez said, adding that he believes the Bucks’ actions were not in vain.” Just that helpless feeling. It’s like what you’re doing at this point?
“It seems to me that the officer’s reaction, if he was trained to shoot until there was no action, or there was no movement or whatever it was. To shoot someone seven times, if he might have a “knife has or whatever and he gets in his car, it seems so extravagant in comparison. Again, I can not help feeling helpless.”