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

Agent Orange is a brilliant man

Thank you Mr President for leading this great country back to respectability and greatness, signed Alex Azz Kisser Azar head of HHS and dropping the ball

 

You ain't banned yet for those ladies of da night?

 

Eric Gordon doesn't have a hoop to stay active

 

Triggered?

 

Woke

 

I agree, partying with strippers will keep you in gameshape.

 

Lol

 

Dudes acting like we're dealing with nursing home residents.

 

https://store.nba.com/houston-rocke...query=Mask&pageSize=72&sortOption=LowestPrice

I guess we starting up again soon

 

Anyone know what LeGarie said about July 1st obstacle?

 

Will this be Mike D’Antoni’s “Last Dance” in Houston?

It’s the question we’ve been asking since last summer, when the fourth-year Rockets coach and his agent, Warren LeGarie, failed to come to terms on an extension with owner Tilman Fertitta. The signs grew even stronger from there that they would likely part ways eventually, with both sides agreeing to table discussions while focusing on the title task at hand.

But with the Rockets reopening their practice facility on Monday and the prospect of the 2019-20 season being saved seeming more possible with every passing week after it was suspended on March 11, a new question arose that was worth addressing: Considering D’Antoni’s contract was believed to be expiring on July 1, then what happens if his Rockets (40-24, tied for fifth in the West) are still fighting for their title shot at that point?

According to LeGarie and Rockets general manager Daryl Morey, it’s a non-issue. D’Antoni will still be the coach until this season’s end — whenever that might be. (In a follow-up conversation, Morey further clarified that the deal does not expire until the season comes to a conclusion)

“Mike is somebody with a lot of integrity and you make a commitment and you fulfill the commitment — regardless of if it goes past (the length of the deal),” LeGarie told The Athletic. “It’s obviously something we have to work out, but he would never, ever walk away from what he feels is a moral responsibility to see it through with his team and especially with his players. He would never abandon somebody because of a technicality.”

To hear Morey tell it, the contract will not have to be re-worked in any significant way. If at all.

“I don’t want to go into any specifics, but I think that there’s not much needed (in terms of his contract),” Morey told The Athletic. “That’s not always the case with everything during this (sort of) time. I know the league lawyers are having to work on a thousand things with different legal aspects, and the Players Union and stuff. But in this case, I think things are pretty straightforward.

“I’ve talked to Mike pretty much daily throughout this (pandemic period), and we’re both excited to get going and excited to win the title. All of us recognize this is an odd time where everyone is figuring (things) out as they go along. Now part of everyone’s job in a senior leadership role is to understand what contracts say and things like that as well, but in this case there’s a mutual feeling (of), ‘Look, let’s — like we’ve had all year — let’s have a great year and then let’s figure things out.’ And we’re still full speed ahead on that front.”

The other matter with the 69-year-old D’Antoni, of course, is his age and the reality that older people are more susceptible to the coronavirus. As ESPN reported earlier this month, however, D’Antoni fully plans on taking part.

“It’s not something that we worry about,” LeGarie said. “Good (health) is good (health), and Mike has been in perfect health for all these years (he was briefly hospitalized last April while battling a virus but he recovered quickly and rejoined the team). Again, Mike does as much as he can to maintain a quality of health… without lowering his immunity system.

“We have heard zero about this (from the NBA). I mean when I say zero, (it’s) zero. Nobody has said one word. …There has been nothing that has come from the league, or with their organization.”

As for how D’Antoni and the Rockets got to this point and the outlook beyond this season, that’s a discussion for another day.

“Mike refuses to get into that (conversation), because right now the focus is on 1) Restarting the season and 2) Seeing the job through,” LeGarie said. “That’s all he’s focused on. As Mike said earlier, that’s all he wants to do is to make sure that he finishes this season as well as possible, and that’s his only focus. The contract stuff becomes a distraction, and he has no interest in even entertaining anything like that at this moment.”

Added Morey: “I think we’ve been pretty consistent. Mike’s a great coach. He’s a great fit for everything we do, and we’re going to sit down after the year and that’s the plan, so we’ll figure it out then. But everything’s really positive, and we feel good about things.”

 

I was all about a change in coaches going into next year but with the pandemic shutting down the league and the season not being able to finish out or finish out in limited fashion, I do believe that MDA deserves another full year at the very least with this team. I'm critical as hell of style and lack of defense, but the guy does know how to coach, and he's consistently had this team winning. Everyone thinks that in a short tournament style ending of this season in June that the Rockets are a good bet to win in that situation.... That is for a reason.

 

I would take an asterisk championship all day long.

 

Yup I'll take it too!

 

Oh yeah. A title is a title, and even if they won it fair and square in a normal season, the way the league is, they'd find some hay to asterisk it regardless.

 

I don't get the whole asterisk thing. I don't ever hear the 1999 Spurs or the 2012 Heat having asterisks because their season was irregular.

 

I would call it 'Corona World Champs'. (Short Edition)

Given that the playoffs are very likely cut short in a way.

Pretty special title in a time like this.

 

Tilman just said on CNBC that Rockets will be Champion this year