NBA Players Hit The Court Saturday And The League To Expand Voting Opportunities For 2020 General Election
CHICAGO (CBS) -- COVID-19 is keeping fans out of NBA arenas, but soon you may be allowed in for a different reason.
After postponing three straight days of playoff games, NBA players agreed to resume play starting Saturday, but one of the stipulations is that teams would work to try to turn team owned arenas into voting locations for the 2020 general election.
A number of teams have confirmed this will be happening in their stadiums, including the Lakers, Utah Jazz and Houston Rockets. This was already in the works in Atlanta, Sacramento and other cities.
It's unclear if this will take place at the United Center in Chicago, but the Bulls tell CBS 2 they have started having preliminary discussions with the Blackhawks and the United Center and expect to have more to say about this next week.
Chicago native and Los Angeles Clippers head coach Doc Rivers said the arena voting deal is a big deal.
"We needed a moment to breathe. It's not lost on me that George Floyd didn't get that moment. But we did. And we took it. And the players took it. And they got to refocus on the things that they wanted to focus on outside of their jobs." - @DocRivers pic.twitter.com/w8WGPpjAOy
— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) August 28, 2020
Another one of the commitments the players wanted owners to make is to establish a social justice coalition among the players, coaches and team governors.
The issues will include voting access and police reform.