The president also takes aim at the NBA's viewership ratings in response to the cancellation of Wednesday's playoff games, while his adviser Jared Kushner plans to invite LeBron James to the White House.
- Aug 28, 2020
AceShowbiz - Donald Trump has taken a jab at NBA following a boycott to protest police violence. During a briefing on Thursday, August 27, the president slammed the league as a "political organization" in response to five teams refusing to play in the Wednesday playoff games.
"They've become like a political organization, and that's not a good thing," Trump told the press. "I don't think that's a good thing for sports or for the country." He went on taking aim at the NBA's viewership ratings, saying, "I don't know much about the NBA. I know their ratings are bad because I think people are tired of the NBA. I know their ratings have been bad. That's unfortunate."
Jared Kusher, Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser to the White House, also seemed to shade NBA for refusing to play in protest of the Jacob Black shooting by police. "Look, I think that the NBA players are very fortunate that they have the financial position where they're able to take a night off from work without having to have the consequences to themselves financially," said the husband of Ivanka Trump. "So they have that luxury, which is great."
In a separate interview with Politico, Kushner said that he plans to reach out to Lakers player LeBron James, who has been vocal about the BLM movement, and invites him to the White House. "If LeBron James reaches out to the White House or we reach out to him, we're happy to talk with him and say let's both agree on what we both want to accomplish and let's come up with a common pathway to get there," he said.
On Wednesday, the Milwaukee Bucks, Houston Rockets, Oklahoma City Thunder, Los Angeles Lakers and Portland Trail Blazers chose not to play their playoff games as part of a protest against police violence following the shooting of black man Jacob Blake by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin. During a meeting held later that day, Lakers and Celtics voted against resuming the season.
However, after another meeting held on Thursday morning, the players reached a decision to resume playoffs. ESPN reports that Wednesday's scheduled slate now will be played Saturday, while three playoffs scheduled to be played on Thursday are postponed and will be held on Sunday.
During the discussion, the players and league officials also talked about formulating an action plan to address racial injustice issues. A source tells The Undefeated's Marc Spears that the league is expected to announce a plan that will include a push for police accountability and voter registration, as well as support for the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.
