Toronto Raptors: Here’s what NBA players did the last time they considered boycott

A brief history of the NBA boycott and what it means for the Toronto Raptors

The Toronto Raptors are considering boycotting Thursday’s contest against the Boston Celtics.

The frustration from players stems from a situation in Kenosha, Wisconsin, where a black man named Jacob Blake was shot at several times by police after he reportedly broke up a fight. Footage of the shooting was shared across social media on Sunday night. Blake is reportedly alive, paralyzed from the waist-down.

This all adds to the boil, as some players considered not even coming to Orlando in light of the social justice movement that has been ongoing since George Floyd lost his life at the hands of a police officer in Minneapolis, spurring protests and activism across the country. Many felt it would take away from the push for social justice and an end to de facto racism in America.

Players came to Orlando on the condition and understanding that they hoped their presence in front of the country would help keep this conversation going. Moreover, many hoped to see a real, radical change to the way policing happens in America.

Players have been allowed to wear social justice slogans on the back of their jerseys, including “EQUALITY“, “BLACK LIVES MATTER,” and “FREEDOM“, among others. “BLACK LIVES MATTER” is also painted at the top of center court.

The sentiment among players is that the video released Sunday night is deflating for them and the reasons they agreed to come finish the season in Orlando.

Speaking to the media (as transcribed and reported by Tim Bontemps, ESPN), here is what Fred VanVleet had to say, including an admission that the team is considering boycotting Thursday’s game:

"“So, for example, this happened in Kenosha, Wisconsin, if I’m correct? Would it be nice if, in a perfect world, we all say we’re not playing, and the owner of the Milwaukee Bucks — that’s going to trickle down. If he steps up to the plate and puts pressure on the district attorney’s office, and state’s attorney, and governors, and politicians there to make real change and get some justice.”"

Fred VanVleet was clear; the situation is fluid and the team is still considering many options as far as how they would like to respond.

"“I’ll keep that between our team,” VanVleet said. “We’re dealing with it in real time, and I think it affects everybody differently. It’s pretty fresh on my mind, and I’m sitting in front of a camera, so I’m just speaking as I’m going. But, yeah, there’s a lot of different things that we’ve discussed.”"

Notably, VanVleet’s hometown is Rockford, Illinois, a short drive from Kenosha where the incident in question occurred.

Team head coach Nick Nurse appeared on a radio show this morning to express his support for his players and their frustration.

He said the players are trying to come up with a plan and a course of action. When asked about how he would react to a boycott, here’s what he said:

"“Well I can only, again, listen to what our guys say and that’s what we’ve tried to do. Listen to their thoughts and ides, I don’t know if it’s going to get to that point [of a boycott], but I imagine it raises the level of attention. Get more people’s attention by not playing the game.”"

A boycott of an NBA game was in play in 2014, here’s how that turned out

In 2014, a similar boycott over similar issues was discussed among players on the LA Clippers. At the time, audio clips were released of team owner Donald Sterling expressing racist remarks. Further investigations over the years, including Ramona Shelburne’s five-part investigative podcast on the issue titled The Sterling Affairs, revealed he had a repetitive history of racism in his actions both within the Clippers organization and outside of it.

The Clippers heavily considered boycotting the playoff game which would have created a substantial financial loss for Sterling’s team while simultaneously making a symbolic statement, but ultimately decided that it would only pull attention away from the issue with Sterling. They wanted to play for each other, not necessarily his organization.

And so, the Clippers decided to come out and participate in pregame warmups with their apparel inside-out, so as to hide the Clippers insignia, along with black wristbands on their wrists.

Soon after, Donald Sterling was banned for life from the league by commissioner Adam Silver.

There are some things we can take away from this moment six years ago, likening it to this situation.

For one, we can expect whatever the team decides, it is likely to be done in unity. There’s a strong chance that the two teams may make a decision on Thursday’s game together. Secondly, we can expect that players will continue to speak up at Orlando in media availability about these issues that impact them, just as Clippers players did following the Sterling scandal.

On the flip side, while these two situations are similar, they are far from identical.

This was a first-round matchup between a 3 (Clippers) and a 6 (Warriors) seed. It didn’t have quite the level of intensity of a second-round matchup between Eastern Conference powerhouses like this one does between Boston and Toronto. The stakes are higher and in turn, more eyeballs are on this series regarding whatever the teams decide to do.

Additionally, There is no internal ongoing issue with the league and racism to protest.

Overwhelmingly the NBA has made it clear that they believe black lives matter. The issue of racism is not corrupting the NBA or the Raptors by any means, it is a thread within the fabric of society itself. Boycotting a game would be in protest of not the league or the team, but to raise awareness on a national level.

Furthermore, bodycam footage was just released of Masai Ujiri’s (one of the lone black NBA executives) incident with an officer directly following the Raptors’ title win where he was not allowed onto the court and was shoved by an officer in Oakland. I won’t embed the video here, but it is available on social media.

Racism has directly impacted the Raptors organization, its players, and the world-at-large.

For now, all we can do is wait and see how the Raptors decide to respond.