Michael Malone and the Denver Nuggets arrived at the NBA bubble 50 days ago vowing not to let the fight for social justice wane or be overshadowed by a basketball game.

Hours before the Nuggets faced playoff elimination in Game 5 against the Utah Jazz on Tuesday, a frustrated Malone and his players held an informal talk before their morning walk-through to discuss the latest shooting of a Black person.

Jacob Blake, a Black man, was shot by police on Sunday in Kenosha, Wisconsin, as he tried to enter the driver's side door of his vehicle. Officers were responding to a domestic disturbance. Blake's father, also named Jacob Blake, told the Chicago Sun-Times that he was told his son was shot eight times and is paralyzed from the waist down. Doctors do not know if the paralysis will be permanent. Video of the incident, taken from a window across the street, was distributed on social media and shared by Blake's attorney, Ben Crump.

Wearing a Black Lives Matter shirt, Malone vented over the fact that players and coaches can't impact change as much as they would like from within the confines of the NBA bubble in Orlando, Florida.

"I'll be honest, I don't think there is anything that we can do here that is going to stop what is happening across this country, with the latest example being Kenosha," Malone said. "... By being here, we are isolated and we can't help where maybe we need to help. It is frustrating for a lot of players, a lot of coaches, to be here.

"But I don't think anybody thought by coming down to the bubble and wearing a T-shirt, and talking and painting something on court was going to end things across this country. This has been happening for hundreds of years."

The Nuggets have been one of the most vocal teams speaking out against racial injustice while in the bubble. Forward Jerami Grant was the first player to answer every question during his entire Zoom interview session talking about Breonna Taylor's death.

Malone said the fight for social justice and racial equality requires sustained change and education, voting the right people into office and changing policies.

And while the Nuggets were readying to stave off elimination on Tuesday night, they also had their minds on much more important matters going on outside the NBA bubble.

"When we all packed our bags to come down here, we all vowed to make sure we kept the narrative, and the commentary and conversation on this moment, on this movement," Malone said. "And unfortunately, even if we weren't keeping that conversation going, the outside world will not allow it to go away because it continues to happen."

"For us this is our 50th day in the bubble," Malone later added. "I didn't expect, I don't think anybody else did, that in 50 days we are going to snap our fingers and say everything is better because the NBA was in the bubble and they said Black Lives Matter. That is just unrealistic. A lot more work has to go into it. But this is a start."