The Lakers and Clippers voted in favor of a strike that would stop the 2020 NBA Playoffs and press pause on the season.
The 2019-20 NBA season is in a state of flux after the Milwaukee Bucks staged a wildcat strike and set off a chain reaction of strikes among other NBA teams.
The players met on Wednesday night to discuss the issues. During that meeting, the Lakers and Clippers voted to stop playing. Every other team voted to continue the 2020 NBA Playoffs, but it’s still unclear where the league goes from here.
Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium is also reporting that LeBron James wants to put more pressure on owners to enact change. Although the Lakers and Clippers are the only teams voting to stop playing games, we don’t know what to expect next.
Over the last few months, the players have formed a unified front at nearly every turn. Even when there are disagreements, the players tend to come together as a whole when push comes to shove. Months ago, Kyrie Irving warned his peers that playing in the bubble could take the attention away from social justice issues. He was vilified for his opinion—one that many other NBA players shared.
The NBA owners are meeting on Thursday morning to discuss where to go from here. LeBron’s vote to stop the season and walk out of the meeting with the players is a major move. He’s the most powerful player in the league by far and this puts legitimate pressure on the owners to do something.