NBA players vote to end playoffs boycott sparked by Wisconsin police shooting of Jacob Blake

The NBA season will go ahead after another meeting of the teams and players who remain in the NBA's Orlando bubble.

Key points:

• NBA players led by the Milwaukee Bucks boycotted playoff games in protest of racial injustices
• A meeting of players who are still in the NBA's Orlando bubble led to them agreeing to restart the season
• It is unclear when matches will resume

The decision came a day after players boycotted matches in protest against the shooting of black man Jacob Blake by a white police officer in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

The shooting occurred when Mr Blake entered his vehicle. He was shot seven times in the back by police officer Rusten Sheskey, leaving Mr Blake paralysed.

Despite the decision to resume the playoffs, matches scheduled for Thursday (local time) between the Denver Nuggets and Utah Jazz, LA Clippers and Dallas Mavericks and the Eastern Conference semi-final opener between the Boston Celtics and Toronto Raptors have been postponed.

While there is no set time for when the playoffs will return, ESPN reporter Adrian Wojnarowski said it could be as soon as Friday.

He was backed up by several other sources familiar with the talks.

It is expected that two players from each team will attend another meeting on Thursday afternoon (local time).

The NBA later released a statement confirming the Thursday games were postponed and that a further meeting would be held on Thursday afternoon.

"There is a videoconference call meeting scheduled later this afternoon between a group of NBA players and team governors representing the 13 teams in Orlando, along with representatives from the National Basketball Players Association and the league office and NBA labor relations committee chairman Michael Jordan, to discuss next steps," the statement read.

The season was put on hold on Wednesday when the Milwaukee Bucks refused to take to the court for game 5 of their opening-round playoff series against the Orlando Magic.

The decision reportedly took the opposing Magic by surprise and veteran Bucks players George Hill and Sterling Brown then read a prepared statement to the media.

"The past four months have shed a light on the ongoing racial injustices facing our African American communities," it read.

"Over the last few days in our home state of Wisconsin, we've seen the horrendous video of Jacob Blake being shot in the back seven times by a police officer in Kenosha, and the additional shooting of protestors.

"Despite the overwhelming plea for change there has been no action, so our focus today cannot be on basketball.

"When we take the court and represent Milwaukee and Wisconsin, we are expected to play at a high level, give maximum effort and hold each other accountable.

"We hold ourselves to that standard and in this moment, we are demanding the same from our lawmakers and law enforcement.

"We are calling for justice for Jacob Blake and demand the officers be held accountable.

Kushner reaches out before Trump hits out

Throughout the NBA's return Lakers star LeBron James has been one of the players most vocal about racial injustice.

"F**k this man!!!! We demand change. Sick of it," James tweeted, in relation to the latest police shooting, before it was reported that his team had voted to boycott the season along with Staples Center co-tenants the Clippers.

On Thursday it appeared James had the attention of those in power when White House adviser Jared Kushner said he would reach out to James, and that US President Donald Trump was willing to work with NBA players.

"I think that it's nice that they're standing up for the issue, but I'd like to see them start moving into concrete solutions that are productive. And again, President Trump in this White House is willing to work with them," Mr Kushner said in an interview with Politico.

His comments to Politico came after he said in a separate interview with CNBC that the players were "fortunate" to be able to "take a night off from work without having to have the consequences to themselves financially".

However, hours later and after the players had committed to return to the court, Mr Trump hit out at the NBA and said he did did not know much about the players' boycott to protest racial injustice following the shooting in Wisconsin.

"They've become like a political organisation and that's not a good thing. I don't think that's a good thing for sports or for the country," Mr Trump said during a briefing at the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Hurricane Laura.

At this stage James has not publicly responded and he has in the past been critical of Mr Trump, and previously accused him of trying to use sports to divide Americans.

Timeline of events leading up to NBA postponement