PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) -- When police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, shot and seriously injured Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old black man, in August, professional sports responded by postponing games. The Milwaukee Bucks — who play less than a hour away — delayed their playoff game. Then other NBA teams postponed games. The WNBA postponed game action. Pro baseball eventually postponed many games, as did hockey.
After Kenosha County District Attorney Michael Graveley announced Tuesday that he would not file criminal charges against the white police officer who shote Blake, Rusten Sheskey, athletes reacted with calls for social change.
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The Bucks released a statement Tuesday night saying, in part, that they remain "firmly against excessive use of force by law enforcement" and that they will work to create policy change so these incidents don’t happen anymore. The statement did not mention Blake or Kenosha by name.
"To hear what happened in Kenosha today was a blow to the heart and to the gut," Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James said. "Not only to that community, but to us and to every Black person that just has been a part of this process and seeing these outcomes so long. And not only just in the Black community, but also in the white community as well, who see moments like this happen to us and happen to his family and happen to the kid himself."
James added: "We got to continue to stay strong, continue to believe in each other and continue to push for the greater of change and for the greater of good."
Utah Jazz All-Star Donovan Mitchell said he was at a loss for words.
"It just gets to a point, man, it’s like: What more? What else? That’s really where I’m at," he said.
New Laker Wesley Matthews — who was on the Bucks last season, played collegiately at Marquette and is from Madison, Wisconsin — called the decision disheartening, and said it cannot deter the Kenosha community from fighting for equality.
"We can't lose our heads," he said.
The Marquette’s men’s basketball team took a knee before their game on Tuesday night in Milwaukee and wore black uniforms in support of Jacob Blake.
Marquette senior Koby McEwen said, according to the Associated Press, "We were going to wear the black uniforms regardless of the situation, whether (Sheskey) got charged or not. If he got charged, it was support of it. If justice wasn’t served, it was in protest of (the decision)."