Israel Adesanya stands with the Milwaukee Bucks and other NBA players boycotting the playoffs.
The Bucks no-showed Game 5 of their series against the Orlando Magic on Wednesday. Their boycott was in response to the shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, at the hands of a Kenosha, Wisconsin police officer. The remainder of Wednesday's games were postponed and the entire season is now in jeopardy as players plan their next move.
UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya was informed of the boycott approximately 30 minutes after it happened. Adesanya told SiriusXM's The Luke Thomas Show that he fully supports the NBA players.
"Fuck it, let them walk out. We have the power. We've always had the power," Adesanya told Thomas. "If the NBA [players] walk out, if they fuck their money up — the owners money and the shareholders' [money.] Good. If that's what it takes to bring change, good. If all these rappers stopped buying fucking designer shit and promoting designer shit..." he drifted off.
"Through my own work with my therapist, I'm trying to respond rather than react," Adesanya said of his own work in support of Black Lives Matter. "Whatever that has to happen. I'm planning my own way to change the world around me but I'm doing that in my own life. Away from the media. I'm trying to respond, not to react. That's what they want."
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