BELLEVUE, NE - The professional sports world was set ablaze this week as NBA athletes (exercising their role as activists) called for the cancellation of the entire NBA playoffs.
That action ricocheted across the sports nation in ways that impacted the NFL.
On Wednesday, following the police shooting of Jacob Blake this past weekend, NBA players of various teams playing that night decided to boycott their respective playoff games. The NBA decided to postpone those games and the games scheduled for tonight.
The players' union met today, where megastar LeBron James led an effort to cancel the entire remainder of the NBA playoffs. Players claimed that the shooting was an example of police brutality and systematic racism against blacks. The effort failed; although, games will still be postponed.
On Thursday, multiple NFL teams canceled their practices in recognition of the event, also claiming that the shooting was an example of police brutality. Multiple MLB games were also canceled, as players made similar statements.
The impact of these events show the fragile state of professional sports in the wake of the #BlackLivesMatter movement. While no season has yet to be canceled, it will bear watching to see if another shooting occurs that would send players over the edge.
Currently, there are no broader implications for the NFL season, which experienced good and bad news this week concerning Coronavirus testing. It was reported over the weekend that 77 NFL players - a large amount - had tested positive for COVID-19; however, it was later revealed that all 77 cases were false positives.
While there is slight concern for how 77 cases could wrongly indicate infections, there is relief across the league that COVID-19 diagnoses are down.
While the NFL did cancel all their preseason games, they are planning to continue the regular season as scheduled. So far, they have successfully navigated training camps.
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