Restarting the 2019-2020 NBA playoffs: Notable events and personalities

The 2019-20 NBA Playoffs have finally restarted. After a long hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic, the recent shooting of Jacob Blake sparked another round of protests from social justice advocates resulting in an NBA boycott. Here is a list of notable events and persons who made a big impact in the past two days when the NBA almost lost its season again.

George Hill and the Milwaukee Bucks - Bucks guard George Hill instigated the boycott and convinced his teammates to forfeit their game on August 26 as a protest. The Bucks were ahead in the series 3-1 against the Orlando Magic and can afford to lose one game. When Bucks superstar and reigning league MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo supported Hill's call, the Bucks went ahead with the surprise walkout.

Chris Paul and Andre Igoudala - Paul is an NBA all-star and a starting guard for the Oklahoma City Thunder. He is also the President of the NBA players union. Igoudala is the Vice President.

A lot of players were surprised when the Milwaukee Bucks decided to boycott the game last Wednesday. Paul had the tedious and thankless job of uniting all the players, turning the Bucks' localised unannounced action into a move by all the players to show their solidarity.

Many players wanted to leave the bubble and be with their families while "higher-ups sort things out," while others wanted to go out of the bubble and support a nationwide protest in the wake of the Blake shooting. Paul had to keep the players together and find a way to get the league moving while meeting players' demands.

LeBron James - James is a Los Angeles Lakers superstar and one of the most vocal advocates of social justice in the NBA. He was surprised by the Bucks' unplanned action and hated how "they didn't think too far ahead" with the boycott.

James was frustrated that if the other teams didn't follow suit, it could appear that they are not supporting the demand for justice for Blake. With the Bucks move having no clear agenda and specific, actionable requests for the NBA, it could stop the season indefinitely.

According to Yahoo Sports, James helped Chris Paul and Andrew Igoudala create a road map on what the NBA can do to support the players' call for social justice.

Michele Roberts - She is the executive director of the Players Union. She spoke about the financial ramifications of the boycott. She convinced the players to clear their heads and vote to continue the season once "reasonable" demands were met.

The original demand for the boycott set by the Milwaukee Bucks was "justice for Jacob Blake," which is totally out of the NBA's hands. She organised the call with NBA management and team owners to set a reasonable "return to play" demand.

Michael Jordan - Jordan is an NBA legend as a player and is currently the owner of the Charlotte Hornets. He discussed the players' demands with the league and other team owners and helped them understand their needs.

In the end, with Jordan's mediation, the team owners agreed to use the NBA arenas (some wholly owned or partially owned by the NBA franchises) as voting booths for the upcoming 2020 elections. The league also agreed to have an NBA social justice committee, an independent body composed of NBA players, team governors, and other NBA personalities focused on socio-political advocacy.

With their demands met, the NBPA voted to resume play and restarted (again) the 2019-2020 season after three days of boycott.