Jared Kushner Says NBA Players Lucky Enough to To 'Take A Night Off Work'

As the future of the current NBA season remains uncertain with players boycotting playoff games, White House officials have begun to comment on the actions of the league that has engaged in a war of words with President Donald Trump.

“Look, I think that the NBA players are very fortunate that they have the financial position where they’re able to take a night off from work without having to have the consequences to themselves financially,” White House senior advisor Jared Kushner told CNBC Thursday. “So they have that luxury, which is great.”

Three postseason games were canceled Wednesday in the wake of the shooting of Jacob Blake. Players and team owners will hold separate meetings Thursday in hopes of determining the fate of the season.

“I think with the NBA, there’s a lot of activism, and I think that they’ve put a lot of slogans out. But I think what we need to do is turn that from slogans and signals to actual action that’s going to solve the problem,” Kushner said.

Kushner later told reporters that he planned to reach out to LeBron James, who reportedly was a proponent Wednesday in canceling the season. James and Trump have exchanged barbs through the media on multiple occasions.

After noting that the Trump administration might not weigh in on the boycotts, Marc Short, the chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence, told CNN that the players' decision to skip games was “absurd” and “silly.” Short then went on to criticize the league for its relationship with China, which politicians have at various points done over the past yeat

Social justice has been at the forefront of the NBA’s restart in Orlando, Florida. “Black Lives Matter” is painted across every court, and players wear warm-up shirts that bear the phrase.