The Knicks released a statement supporting Wednesday’s player strike

The NBA has responded with power and purpose to the shooting of Jacob Blake. On Wednesday the Milwaukee Bucks, whose home base is very close to Kenosha, Wisconsin, where the shooting (and protests, and then the shooting of protesters) took place, decided to strike in unison, forcing the NBA to cancel Game 5 of their playoff series with the Orlando Magic. Other teams quickly followed suit, and all Wednesday’s games were postponed.

NBA teams were quick to put out statements in support of the move. The Knicks have been criticized in the past for being slow to send out their own public displays of support for social justice causes — remember the furor when they were the last team to make a statement after the George Floyd murder? This time, however, they managed to post something relatively quickly.

It’s a fairly milquetoast statement — they probably should have come out in support of the players, who are the ones actually setting the tone for this strike — but it’s not very different from some of the more bland statements put out by other teams.

Some members of the Knicks shared social media posts in solidarity with their fellow players. Forward Maurice Harkless went even further, sharing a story about a time he was pulled over and harassed by the police before they realized he was an NBA athlete.

Most Black people I know have a similar story, only they don’t get let off when the cops finally recognize them as famous athletes.

Let’s keep the comments clean, folks.