A basketball game was the least of the Celtics' worries on Wednesday night.
Boston was in Florida to take on the Miami Heat, but the minds of both teams were on Washington D.C., where pro-Trump extremists stormed the Capitol building just hours before, and on Wisconsin, where prosecutors in Kenosha declined on Tuesday to file charges against the police officers involved in the shooting of Jacob Blake.
Before the game tipped-off, there were murmurs that players would decide to sit out the game, à la the NBA's unprecedented strike just a few months ago after the Blake shooting.
Both teams eventually took to the court for the game, but not before players from both the Heat and Celtics took a knee during the playing of the national anthem. And in a display that underscored the moment, players from both teams released a joint statement.
“2021 is a new year, but some things have not changed. We play tonight’s game with a heavy heart after yesterday’s decision in Kenosha, and knowing that protesters in our nation’s capital are treated differently by political leaders depending on what side of certain issues they are on," the statement read. "The drastic difference between the way protesters this past spring and summer were treated and the encouragement given to today’s protestors who acted illegally just shows how much more work we have to do."
“We have decided to play tonight’s game to try to bring joy into people’s lives. But we must not forget the injustices in our society, and we will continue to use our voices and our platform to highlight these issues and do everything we can to work for a more equal and just America.”
The statement concluded with #BLACKLIVESSTILLMATTER.
Speaking after the game, Celtics head coach Brad Stevens said he was convinced there would not be a game.
"To be honest, at 30 minutes [to gametime], I didn't think we were playing," he said.
After a team meeting, he said the players met without coaches and eventually decided to go forward with the game. But Stevens was prepared to back his players no matter what.
"If our guys chose not to play tonight, they had the full support of my staff, myself and our organization," he said.
Speaking to reporters after the game, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown talked about the importance of making a statement.
Brown referenced Martin Luther King, Jr. and said there are two different Americas, one where people get killed sleeping in their car, selling cigarettes or playing in their backyard, and another where people get to storm the Capitol.
He said players wanted to continue to keep conversations alive and push for the change they're looking for.
"Using this platform that we have is important to us," Brown said. "We are role models, we are members of our community, we do have people looking up to us. And we want the next generation to know where we stand."
Brown said sports is often used as a way to lift people up, and he was hopeful the game helped with that. He said he wants to believe he and other players are doing the right thing.
Tatum said it would be wrong if they didn't take advantage of the position they're given as professional basketball players.
"I think it's bigger than basketball, it's bigger than the game today," he said. "But I just felt like the statement, us talking about it, us going out on the court on national TV, could shed more light than not playing."
Across the NBA, players and coaches from other teams took action as well. The Milwaukee Bucks and Detroit Pistons both knelt during the opening seconds of their game. Philadelphia 76ers head coach Doc Rivers asked how the situation in D.C. would have played out if all the people breaking into the Capitol were Black.
Boston and Miami played a close game — a game that was a worthy encore to the Celtics' battles with the Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals. Boston won 107-105 after a putback from rookie Payton Pritchard put the Celtics up with less than a second remaining in the game.
But on a day that shook America, even the NBA had bigger concerns than a basketball game.
