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On Wednesday, the WNBA announced that there will be no games played on Wednesday, August 26. This was sparked by a social justice movement to lay attention to Jacob Blake’s shooting in Kenosha, Wisc. last weekend. Blake, a Black man, was shot from behind by police.
The Washington Mystics were expected to play the Atlanta Dream tonight. However, according to ESPN’s Holly Rowe, the team did not feel it was right to play. They were ultimately able to convince the rest of the teams expected to play to not play tonight.
All teams showed up before 7 p.m. ET where they took a group photo and kneeled. Dream forward Elizabeth Williams then made a statement on behalf of WNBA players.
Center @E_Williams_1 reads statement on @espn as the representative for all @WNBA players. Tonight's games have been cancelled. pic.twitter.com/xDz4uCQSiD
— Atlanta Dream (@AtlantaDream) August 26, 2020
Mystics guard Ariel Atkins then spoke for the team in an interview to Rowe.
"We're not just basketball players. We're so much more than that."
— Washington Mystics (@WashMystics) August 26, 2020
Ariel Atkins with a powerful statement on the unified decision to not play tonight. #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/Eg96KMqsFh
The NBA also postponed all playoff games on Wednesday. It isn’t clear when play will resume again.