As NBA playoffs pause, Minnesota Timberwolves release social justice video

The Minnesota Timberwolves organization is continuing to stay active in the NBA’s response to continued social injustices.

Yet another tragedy has taken place in the United States that highlights ongoing social injustice in the country. While this time it did not take place in the Minnesota Timberwolves’ home community, the organization is still responding in a thoughtful manner.

The NBA playoffs are on pause after the Milwaukee Bucks, who play only 40 miles away from where Jacob Blake was killed by Kenosha police, chose to not take the court for their playoff game against Orlando on Wednesday. The rest of the league followed, and the NBA has now postponed all of Thursday’s games as well.

As NBA playoffs pause, Minnesota Timberwolves release social justice video

On Thursday morning, NBA teams voted to continue the playoffs at some point in the coming days. Less than 12 hours earlier, there was word that both the Los Angeles Lakers and LA Clippers were going to vote to postpone the rest of the postseason.

The Minnesota Timberwolves, as one of eight teams that were never present in the Orlando bubble, released the first video in what will apparently be a series focused on social injustices and challenges with the Twin Cities community.

The series will be produced along with the Minnesota Lynx and is titled “Voices”, and this episode featured Josh Okogie and assistant strength and conditioning coach Kurt Joseph. They went to the place of George Floyd’s death, where a memorial was set up and the intersection closed in Minneapolis to have a candid discussion about Floyd’s death and social injustice as a whole.

It’s a fantastic discussion. Good on the Wolves and Lynx for putting this together, and props to Okogie for being so active locally and speaking out on this issue.

You’ll recall that Okogie was present, along with Karl-Anthony Towns and many others, at a press conference held with Black Lives Matter and Floyd’s attorney following the tragedy back at the end of May.

This will be an impactful video series to keep an eye on in the coming weeks. The Wolves are clearly putting an emphasis on not just being present for the community during this trying time, but attempting to be proactive and truly make a difference.