Jacob Blake: The hidden impact of the Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers

The Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers are at the center of a monumental sports moment.

Lake Show Life thought articles like this was over. No check that, we hoped. After writing numerous articles warning NBA fans that a combination of sports, politics and certain media platforms sending out misguided information for clout could possibly derail the playoffs. After yet another shooting of a black man named Jacob Blake, the two most popular teams in the NBA sharing the same building almost closed up shop!

When J.R. Smith came out on the floor to play Game 4 against the Portland Trail Blazers for Mamba Day, he wrote on his shoes “WWKD” (What would Kobe Do?) and “Shoot”. Well this is a stretch because Kobe Bryant is no longer with us, but the Lake Show Life staff would put the reputation on this site on the line that Kobe Bryant would be in the middle of these negotiations.

Here’s a list to put on the “What would Kobe do?” bulletin board. 

• Bringing justice to the family of Jacob Blake. We realize that might take a minute to investigate, but for the time being, why not take the handcuffs off him? Start there!
• See the difference of the Kyle Rittenhouse case, a 17-year-old white male who walks around with an assault rifle, shoots 3 people in the street, kills 2 and can drive home. Then gets arrested/taken into custody without incident. The people he shot? Protesters for Jacob Blake!
• How about arresting the officers that were responsible for the shooting of Breonna Taylor? While that is going on, let’s get the media to stop writing headlines about her ex-boyfriend getting arrested for drugs and attaching her name? Mixed messages don’t you think?
• How about justice for George Floyd? See wasn’t that what really gave the Black Lives Matter steam? Convict those officers yet?  
• Let’s make sure a man like Ahmaud Arbery can go jogging without getting shot and killed. Think things have improved? A black man jogging in San Antonio was mistaken as an assault suspect and arrested. He was handcuffed for not giving his name. He wasn’t the guy and charged for felony assault of an officer! Feel free to read here! 
• How about police officers just stop killing black people with unnecessary force?

Think this situation got real yet? The last time NBA playoff games were postponed in history was when the Lakers had to postpone a game back in in 1992 during the Rodney King riots. They had to finish that playoff series in Las Vegas. Before that, how about April of 1968  after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King.

Don’t understand? Then let Los Angeles Clippers Head Coach, Doc Rivers speak on it.

In the eyes of this writer for Lake Show Life, there will be an asterisk of the NBA champion this year. Why? Because there will be three. The Milwaukee Bucks, the Los Angeles Lakers and the Los Angeles Clippers. No matter who gets the Larry O’Brien trophy (Hopefully it will be one of these three teams!), one thing is clear.

These three teams have the chance of making sports history based on these two acts.

• Even though the Boston Celtics and Toronto Raptors were considering boycotting game one of the Eastern Conference semifinals, the Milwaukee Bucks made the decision to get the boycott started. 
• Then the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers actually voted not to continue the season. 

Lake Show Life has had millions of readers visit this website over the years and since Kobe Bryant died, some fans go to social media and constantly post how much they miss Kobe Bryant and having the “Mamba Mentality” not knowing what that even means.

Let the Los Angeles Lakers franchise help define what it is with this statement via NBA.com

"We stand with our players and the players of the NBA in their demand for justice and the end of racial violence. Eighty percent of NBA players are Black men. We cannot love them for the joy and entertainment that they bring to the world, yet sit in silence and fail to use our platforms and resources to amplify their voices when they demand the justice and equality that America has promised us all, but denied Black people for too long. In 2020 alone, we have been made to bear witness to the killings of numerous unarmed Black men and women at the hands of the police, as well as private “vigilantes.” Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and now Jacob Blake. We must continue to say their names. But now is also the time for us to say enough."

Then in the meetings on Wednesday night, it was reported tenuous and according to the LA Times, LeBron James was frustrated and walked out followed by some Lakers teammates.

"“LeBron’s emotions got the best of him yesterday and today he calmed down,” a person familiar with the meetings said. “He talked to a lot of different people. Yeah, he changed his mind about playing, but he was always for what everyone else wanted to do, whatever the majority was. It wasn’t until what Milwaukee had going on that kind of sent him over.”"

The Los Angeles Lakers led by LeBron James, the Los Angeles Clippers led by Kawhi Leonard and Milwaukee Bucks led by Giannis Antetokounmpo has the entire future of the NBA in their hands.

Let’s be clear. The two L.A. teams is the matchup of the year in the Western Conference Finals. The NBA Finals will clear revenue of at least $1 billion dollars alone. Think about how much the Lakers and Clippers will command. If they walked, the TV sets would turn off.

But the spotlight, fair or not, is on LeBron James.

He doesn’t need the money as badly as others in the league do. However, there are other important things going on at stake.

• He still has a social media platform that is bigger than most media companies.
• He still has the school “I Promise” to bring awareness to and support.
• Most importantly he is battling voter suppression with “More than a vote” which is raising millions of dollars, in collaboration with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund to pay more poll workers to facilitate voting in Black electoral districts in November’s general election.

All of these platforms are enhanced and promoted with LeBron on the floor.

Lake Show Life has been very active following the social unrest and the challenges that it brought to even the season starting up back in late July.

• LeBron James: A Fox Sports civil war started over Ahmaud Arbery tweet?
• LeBron James: Will Jason Whitlock’s exit from Fox Sports end hot takes?
• LeBron James speaks out on the Drew Brees comment and Fox News!
• LeBron James: Is he cool playing until the racial injustice is addressed?

This article is not about Los Angeles Lakers basketball. It’s about a basketball team led by its superstar trying to force change for not only their fans but the African American community. This website had numerous racially charged comments (Since deleted!) with propaganda and insults. This is not for you. Move but take a listen to Maria Taylor before you go.

Over the next several pages we are going to really support the Los Angeles Lakers and support this movement. Only we will not hand out rumors. We will not give propaganda and false truths. We will try to educate what is really going on. Why? This story is not going anywhere plus another incident could shut this season down again.

Let’s get started.