Aces’ game among 3 postponed as WNBA continues protest

The Aces’ game Thursday was among three postponed by the WNBA as the league continued its protest of racial inequality and police brutality.

Thursday was the second straight day the league has postponed its scheduled games, joining the NBA and some baseball teams that decided not to play and some NFL teams that canceled practices because of the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, and ongoing protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

“The players of the WNBA used today to reflect,” said Nneka Ogwumike, WNBA Players Association president. “Following yesterday’s decision to stand in solidarity with NBA players and black and brown communities in Wisconsin, we will continue demonstrating our solidarity by not playing today.”

The Aces were scheduled to play the Seattle Storm with first place in the standings on the line. Ogwumike hinted that the WNBA was leaning toward resuming play Friday, but the league has not announced a restart date.

The Aces did not make coach Bill Laimbeer or players available to the media, but released a statement:

“The WNBA and its players announced the start of the 2020 season by dedicating their play this year to social justice, pledging to be a driving force of necessary change to address our country’s long history of inequality.”

Aces forward Angel McCoughtry has been a driving force behind the league’s social justice movement. It was her idea to have the name of Breonna Taylor, a Black EMT in Louisville, Kentucky, who was killed by police while she slept in her apartment March 13, inscribed on the back of the Aces’ jerseys.

“Change is the ultimate championship,” McCoughtry said Thursday on Twitter. “We have used our bubble to highlight the injustices going on, but the game of life is more important than the game of basketball and us pro athletes believe it’s time fore a change.”

The Washington Mystics wore white T-shirts to their scheduled game against the Atlanta Dream on Wednesday. On the front, each player had an individual letter that spelled out Jacob Blake, and the back showed seven painted bullet holes, representing the number of times Blake was shot in the back. He is paralyzed from the waist down from the shooting, according to the family’s lawyer.

After Wednesday’s games were postponed, teams held a candlelight vigil in the bubble, and Laimbeer was among the speakers.

“You have come so far. The changes that you have made have been phenomenal, both on the court, which your talent level is second to none in the history of this league, but also off the court for how you have grown,” Laimbeer said in the video, which was posted to ESPN reporter Holly Rowe’s Twitter page. “I’ve been asked numerous times this year about the difference between professional basketball today and when I played.

“I answer it this way. When I played, the owners dominated, the media dominated and the corporations dominated, and the players were in a closet. Today, the players control the action. You have the narrative. There’s no question about that. It’s a given. It’s a fact, and you are expressing it. And that’s a good thing.”

Contact Jason Orts at jorts@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2936. Follow @SportsWithOrts on Twitter