On an extraordinary day for the NBA, the Milwaukee Bucks boycotted Game 5 of their playoff series against the Orlando Magic in protest at the police shooting of Jacob Blake. Wednesday’s other two playoff games – between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Houston Rockets; and the Portland Trail Blazers and the Los Angeles Lakers – were also later postponed. The games are expected to be rescheduled for a later date. Milwaukee’s baseball team, the Brewers, confirmed they would not play their game scheduled for Wednesday evening either, with other MLB teams considering taking similar action. Blake was shot in the back by police, apparently in front of his children, on Sunday, and his family say he is now paralyzed from the waist down. The shooting occurred in Kenosha, Wisconsin, which is 40 miles from Milwaukee. The Bucks had been due to come on court for 4pm ET on Wednesday afternoon, but did not emerge from the locker room. “We’re tired of the killings and the injustice,” Bucks guard George Hill told The Undefeated’s Marc J Spears. There has been growing anger about racial injustice among NBA players, 80% of whom are black, as the season has progressed. On Monday, Hill said the season should not have resumed in the first place. “We shouldn’t have even came to this damn place [Orlando, where the playoffs are taking place], to be honest,” he said. “I think coming just here took all the focal points off what the issues are. But we’re here, so it is what it is. We can’t do anything from right here, but I think definitely, when it’s all settled, some things have to be done. “I think this world has to change. I think our police department has to change. Us as society has to change. And, right now we’re not seeing any of that. Lives are being taken, as we speak, day in and day out, and there’s no consequence or accountability for it, and that’s what has to change.” Shortly after the postponements were confirmed, the NBA’s biggest star, LeBron James, tweeted: “FUCK THIS MAN!!!! WE DEMAND CHANGE. SICK OF IT”. Bucks senior vice-president Alex Lasry said the team supported their players’ stance. “I’m incredibly proud of our guys and we stand 100% behind our players ready to assist and bring about real change,” he wrote on Twitter. Members of the Bucks have spoken about problems of racism and police brutality in the Milwaukee area before. Peter Feigin, the Bucks’ president, offended some fans in 2016 when he said Milwaukee is “the most segregated and racist place” he had known. Meanwhile, in an interview with the Guardian last year, former Bucks player Malcolm Brogdon spoke about similar problems. “Before I came to Milwaukee I’d heard the city was the most segregated in the country,” he said. “I’d heard it was racist. When I got here it was extremely segregated. I’ve never lived in a city this segregated. Milwaukee’s very behind in terms of being progressive. There are things that need to change rapidly.” There have been protests in Kenosha since the shooting, and police arrested Kyle Rittenhouse, 17, after two people were shot dead at a demonstration in the town on Tuesday night. Wednesday’s boycott recalls a similarly troubled time in US history following the brutal beating of Rodney King, a black man, by white police officers in 1991. The Chicago Bulls player Craig Hodges wanted his team, along with their opponents the Lakers, to boycott the opening game of the NBA finals so that: “we would stand in solidarity with the black community while calling out racism and economic inequality in the NBA, where there were no black owners and almost no black coaches despite the fact that 75% of the players in the league were African American”. Bulls legend Michael Jordan told Hodges he was “crazy” while Lakers star Magic Johnson said: “That’s too extreme, man.” In 2017, Hodges told the Guardian he regretted his failure to persuade the teams to boycott. “Our generation dropped the ball as a lot of us were more concerned with our own economic gain,” he said. “We were at that point where branding was just beginning and we got caught up in individual branding rather than a unified movement.” On Wednesday, Magic players were practicing on court prior to what they thought would be the start of the game but left shortly after they learned the Bucks would not join them. The Bucks lead the best-of-seven series 3-1 and are one of the favorites to win the title. Their star player and reigning league MVP, Giannis Antetokounmpo, was named NBA defensive player of the year on Tuesday. This season’s playoffs are taking place in an isolated bubble at Florida’s Walt Disney World due to the Covid-19 pandemic.