Sources: Expect the NBA back playing by mid/late June with 10 reg season games before POs

They've been quite insistent that they aren't going to resume if those are the terms. I don't see the need to go down that road just yet.

 

p***y

 

Doesn't seem like this "bubble" idea is very workable or popular:

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/29146819/nba-facilities-reopening-season-closer

 

It does, however, sound like they're open to the idea that there's going to be risk.

"This is a world with the virus," Roberts said. "And we have to figure out a way to work, play and live in a world with the virus.

"The questions have now evolved from, 'Are we going to play again?' to, 'If we play, what are the risks going to look like?'"

They can debate the various options over the next few weeks. None are perfect. And if they don't want to play, they won't.

 

The assumption that the Gobert shutdown still happens. @The Cat explained this pretty well on a number of occasions in this thread

 

Should probably just cancel the season.

 

The NBPA held a call with NBA players on Friday that included an update from the league office and commissioner Adam Silver. Here’s what you should know following the call:

• If the 2019-20 season resumes, no fans are expected. And that could be the case as long as there is no vaccine.
• 40 percent of the league’s revenue comes from fans.
• A decision on the season can go into June.
• If/when NBA is able to return, Adam Silver told players it is safer in one or two locations — such as Walt Disney World in Orlando and Las Vegas — than it would be flying around to cities and facilities.
• The NBA is sifting through “a lot of bad options,” meaning whatever route the resumption could take place is less than ideal.
• The NBA is projecting a one-year timetable on a coronavirus vaccine. Silver emphasized that the league collectively will have to deal with the coronavirus issue for the foreseeable future — and that “no decision will be risk-free.”
• Silver admitted the NBA “couldn’t start now even if we wanted to.”
• NBA teams will be told again that it is voluntary for players to work out and pressure should not be applied. NBPA President Chris Paul and Vice President Kyrie Irving told Silver that some players have been feeling pressure from teams to return to facilities and that should not be the case, to which Silver agreed and stated any other concerns should be made to the league and NBPA.
• Silver admitted there would be a significant impact for the league financially if there is no season and then no fans attending games in 2020-21.
• According to Silver, the league would look into other interactive ways to get fans engaged.
• When asked about a potential second wave of the virus in the fall, Silver said that is why a delayed start to 2020-21 makes sense. Silver referenced a Christmas Day start. Sources said a Dec. 25 start to the 2020-21 season is gaining momentum.
• The ever-elusive question across pro sports is this: What happens if a player tests positive again? Silver responded that he hopes the NBA will be able to administer daily testing at that point, have no stoppage of play, and isolate the player(s) in quarantine. Silver cited a potential two-day break, as well. Silver stated any decision would need to be worked out with the NBPA and he has spoken to MLB commissioner Rob Manfred about a protocol.
• A 3-to-6 week ramp-up period is expected should the NBA be able to resume the season — and the NBA prefers to have a full four-round, seven-game per series postseason.
• Among those on the call, the clear takeaway was that the NBA still is not anywhere close to having the necessary answers to resume play — and that a major financial impact looms. Silver admitted teams are “very concerned” and are being “crushed” financially. The NBA shut down on March 11 when Utah Jazz All-Star Rudy Gobert tested positive, but Silver and the players discussed the positive public sentiment and awareness that has occurred in the coming months as a result of the league shutting down.

“We’re going to have to find a way to work through this,” Silver told players. “This could turn out to be the single greatest challenge of all of our lives.

“Until there is a vaccine or some magical cocktail that prevents people from dying from this virus, we are going to be dealing with it, collectively.”

Across pro sports, commissioners and executives are balancing the risk factors that go into this pandemic. This is a historic moment for everyone and these decisions will be made with safety as a priority, as Silver reiterated. The NBA and its players union will work hand-in-hand through all of this.

The ultimate question left on the call for all parties was: How much risk are they all willing to take?

 

they can figure out how to make this work however they want, but a title won where 1 or 2 major stars has to sit out for 14 days is going to feel really stupid. can you imagine a positive test for game 7 of the finals? could everyone just agree to play with the player and then quarantine themselves for 14 days?

also, games without fans will be weird. baseball with a non-existent crowd isn't that weird. crowds are quiet/small for lots of regular season baseball games. basketball with no noise is always strange. will they ever let up on the 7-second bleep button? are we going to learn what every team calls all of their plays? will they just play some fake background crowd noise so we don't hear all of that?

 

Apart from that, the German Bundesliga should serve as an experiment/precursor for things to come.

 

They should at least think about a Best of 3 or Best of 5 series before declaring it 7 games.

Those were formats in the past and it worked with fewer games.

 

There's no solution. The virus kills. That isn't changing without treatment or a vaccine. The risk is too high. Mistakes will be made. I can't even have dinner on my patio without noticing several technical infringements amongst people I love, know, and trust...let alone others. Can't see it succeeding without a major incident. People get together in mass and you get infections. It's simple math. We know it's true. You do this, and you are accepting an inevitable result.

We went through this before with Magic Johnson. That virus killed too. It's not the first time, but this feels inevitable and that did not.

Of note, estimated 770,000 deaths each year to HIV/AIDS. Covid closing in on 240,000 in just over half a year.

 

Serious question: Considering there's no clear timetable for treatment or a vaccine, are you comfortable sheltering in place and avoiding mass gatherings for years? If not, when's the breaking point? Adam Silver spelled it out well on the call... you can cancel this season if you want, but the odds are you're going to be dealing with the exact same situation next year, too.



I completely agreed with shutting things down in March to flatten the curve and make sure our health-care capacity isn't exceeded. That also gave us time to ramp up testing. I do not agree with stopping mass gatherings indefinitely. Quality of life is a consideration. I'll accept some small risk to myself and loved ones if the alternative is no sports, restaurants, travel, weddings, reunions, dancing, hugs, handshakes, etc. for years on end.

With NBA players, the risk is even less to them personally due to their ages and physical condition, and the bubble concept largely isolates them from the outside world. So it's not like there's significant risk of them spreading it into the broader population. Is there zero risk? Of course not, but my view is that "the risk is too high" eventually becomes a relative statement.

If NBA players don't want to play, I'll completely respect their decision. But I don't think we should make it for them, at least not on an indefinite basis. At some point, we all get to debate and decide how we best want to proceed in a world that has this virus.

 

NBA is pushing to get back way too hard. Time to sit this year out in my opinion.

U will see players sit out. The guys who make enough money won’t risk it.

 

I don't think the projection is "years." Maybe it will be. But it seems promising that some time next year or the year after a vaccine will be available.

We always have infectious diseases. And yes, a lot of them kill. Even the common flu kills. It's a matter of degree--the infection rate and the mortality rate. Because COVID 19 is quite high on both accounts, it causes such a disastrous disruption to the whole world. So I agree that we are going to have to live with some risk just as we have always been. The main thing is that we cannot let it overwhelm the medical system like it did in a lot of places in the past three months. When it does, it's not just a matter of COVID victims but everybody who needs medical care. You have to decide who you leave dying. That's a terrible thing for any society.

A lot of people still don't get it. It is not just whether YOU taking the risk. It's the whole society. It's a balance between quality of life and quality of healthcare which is also part of quality of life. The bottom line is what considered to be "essential" for quality of life. To me, going to work, having a healthy economy is essential. Partying at beaches, watching sports in person is not.

Back on topic, having a vaccine is the key to going back to normal. That looks like it will be a year or two away. Before that, sport leagues like the NBA will have to determine what is acceptable risk. Games without fans seems to be a given. So it's just a matter of risk to the essential personnel to play the game, players, coaches, refs, etc. It's actually the same consideration for any business that is poise to reopen.

 

Now that people thought about, it feels clearer and clearer that the league will at least try ramping it up and making it happen.

While many athletes are young and healthy to withstand the effects of said virus, older veterans like Vince Carter, the coaching staff, medical staff, people of the organization, janitorial staff and older journalists are in the risk group.

In December there is a chance of knowing more, having better working drugs to treat patients, better working antibody tests et cetera.

 

The Rugby League in Australia is set to resume the competition from May 28th.

Not sure when the Bundesliga is due to kick off - but there will at least be a couple of sporting competitions the NBA can watch and learn from.

 

Jared Dudley is the last person anyone should be taking medical advice from.

Sometimes jared Dudley looks like lost member of milli vanilli.