NBA players took things to another level in 2020 after the shooting of Jacob Blake when they boycotted their playoff games and took action to ensure justice was brought to the victim.
In a chat with ESPN’s Dave McMenamin — Blake Sr. revealed that players have been calling him, and even sought his advice on whether or not to continue the season.
“Five minutes after they walked off the court, they were on the phone with me,” Blake Sr. told ESPN on Saturday. “It touched me so deeply that I shed tears over the phone. They could hear me crying. Giannis [Antetokounmpo] told me I made him cry in front of the whole team. I didn’t intend to make them cry. They felt me and I felt them. I am the newest Milwaukee Bucks fan.”
Following the call with the Bucks on Wednesday, Blake Sr. was invited to virtually join the emergency meeting called by the 13 NBA teams remaining in the league’s Orlando bubble.
“I couldn’t tell those young fellas what to do; it’s their livelihood, their life,” he said. “But I was just floored that they would even consider asking me what they should do.”
Blake Sr. always considered himself a Chicago fan — diehard for the Bears and Bulls, but he found hismelf being treated exceptionally by Wisconsin’s professional sports teams.
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The Green Bay Packers have footed the bill for a half-dozen hotel rooms so Blake Sr. and other family members can stay near the hospital where his son, paralyzed from the waist down after the shooting, is recovering.
“They have paid for our rooms until my son gets out of the hospital,” Blake Sr. said. “I’ve never worn a Green Bay Packers jersey and I’m asking them to send me one with at least five X’s in it so I can put it on because now I am a Green Bay Packers fan.”
Blake Sr. told ESPN his son is currently “heavily sedated because of the amount of pain that he’s in,” adding, “I believe he’ll be in that situation for quite some time.”
