A smashed locker. Flowing tears. Action.
The Bucks’ most impactful moment of the 2020 NBA Playoffs came not on the floor, but in the locker room.
It started with the police-involved shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha in late August.
A summer of social unrest and protests for justice culminated with another tragic event in the Bucks’ home state. But instead of marching in the streets like they did in June the wake of the killing of George Floyd, this time, the Bucks were quarantined 1,200 miles away from Milwaukee, inside the NBA’s Bubble. What could they do?
Frustration boiled over for Bucks assistant coach Darvin Ham before Game 5 of the team’s first round playoff series against the Orlando Magic.
Bucks guard Kyle Korver took you inside that emotional scene speaking at his alma mater, Creighton University on Monday night.
“He’s got two sons that are in their 20’s. They live in Milwaukee. He’s thinking about them,” Korver speaking of Ham’s family. “Darvin Ham’s a big man…He’s in tears…there’s like a little coaches thing set up [in the locker room]. He just took the whole thing down.”
This transpired minutes before the Bucks were supposed to take to the floor.
“I just sat there in my chair with tears running down my face,” Korver recalled aloud. “And I’m looking at my jersey that says ‘Black Lives Matter’ and I’m just like ‘What are we doing?'”
At that point, fellow guards George Hill and Sterling Brown announced to the team that they would be sitting out of the game. The rest of the team stood with them.
Instead of just heading back to the hotel silently, the Bucks took action right there in the locker room.
They spoke with Jacob Blake’s family on the phone. They spoke with Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul and Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes.
They didn’t just talk about it. They were about it.
“It’s always interesting for me as a white man in these spaces, like, what to do? How do I help as a white man? What do I say as a white man in this space? You know what you do? You stand with the marginalized.”