It’s official: Game 1 of Raptors vs. Celtics set for Sunday at 1pm

As quickly as the NBA players’ labour action happened, the league is just as quickly getting back to business as usual. Based on Friday’s agreement between the league office and the Players Association (NBPA), the NBA playoffs are set to resume on Saturday. All that remained to be sorted out (for now) is when each remaining team would take the court.

To that end, we have an answer. As is being rapidly circulated online right now, here is the schedule for this weekend’s games of the restarted restarted NBA season. Of note: we get Game 1 of the first ever Raptors vs. Celtics series on Sunday at 1pm.

There’s not much more to be said about this now. The NBA is coming back and it appears that the majority of players are in support of that. Whether the initiatives outlined in that aforementioned agreement ever come to proper fruition — or whether the league’s players decide in future to take more radical action — remains very much up in the air. If nothing else, it’s a start, a step in perhaps the right direction.

In summary, two things remain clear: there will be NBA playoff basketball this weekend; and, as many have been saying over the past few days, weeks, months, and years, it will be on all of us — not just professional athletes — to keep pushing for real social change. This includes everything in the mission statement of the Black Lives Matter movement, and so much more.

It’s perhaps a small thing, but here are a few ideas on how to get started:

• Understand the power the NBA owners have, understand how that relates to political power, and understand what you can do.
• Donate to these organizations in support of Black and Indigenous people in North America.
• Read up on some recent events and other history in our non-game Game 1 preview.