There was little warning that Aug. 26, 2020, would become a landmark date in sports. During the most disruptive year of our lifetimes, the world has been both standing still and changing rapidly. And so, three days after a police officer shot an unarmed Black man in Wisconsin named Jacob Blake seven times in the back, everything again changed all at once when the Milwaukee Bucks brought the sports world to a halt.
The players decided that the NBA playoffs would not, and should not, be played that night. To those in the U.S. with the privilege of not being affected by another case of excessive force by a police officer toward a Black person—the majority—the players were saying: Will you notice if we take away your privilege of watching us?