Days Without The NBA: 58.
Slowly but surely, we’re gleaning more about the NBA’s plans for an eventual resumption of play this year. And while there’s absolutely nothing set in stone – and a possible cancellation is still on the table – Commissioner Adam Silver does continue to weigh all scenarios that would allow for some on-court resolution to the 2019-20 campaign.
Unfortunately, with so much general uncertainty and forever moving targets, the NBA has reportedly considered practically any and every measure out there. Obviously, flexibility and open-mindedness is necessary and good, but it’s left us with a TON of information (sometimes conflicting) from a variety of different sources over the last month or so.
Thankfully, our friend Kevin O’Connor at The Ringer (not actually a friend, but I’ll happily be his friend), wrote up an awesome comprehensive report on the NBA’s current situation, and seems to wrap it all in an aura of more recently sourced authority.
Seriously, if you’re curious about practically any of the logistics the NBA has dealt with behind the scenes, I highly recommend giving this article a read. It’s got it all.
Publicly, the NBA has been vague about its plans🐼 to restart after suspending the season in March.
Privately, however, Adam Silver and his team in the le💜ague office have been making contingency plans for ever💙y imaginable scenario.
New report on :
— Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA)
The post might not share a ton of “new information,” but it (1) organizes everything quite nicely and (2) shares only what’s been backed-up by league sources. In a lot of ways, even if all signs still point to “I don’t know,” this just feels like the best (and probably most wholly accurate) update we’ve received.
For instance, O’Connor provided four clear bullet points on how the NBA is approaching a continued season:
• If it’s safe to do so, the league hopes to co🗹mplete as much of the⛦ regular season and the postseason as possible, involving all 30 teams.
• If the restart of the regular season i🌼s delayed for any reason, then some number of regular-season games would🌠 be canceled.
• ꦿ If the entire regular season needs🐻 to be canceled, the NBA would begin with the postseason, and only 16 teams would need to play.
• If necessary, the NBA could truncate the playoff schedule with three-game series in the early rounds, or💎 schedule back-to-back games at any point, to swiftly cཧonclude the playoffs.
The idea of playing these games in either Las Vegas or Orlando is very much on the table, but according to O’Connor, the league seems to have more interest in Disney World for a number of logistical reasons.
At the end of the day, none of this information has necessarily brought us closer to enjoying basketball on our television again anytime soon. The continued severity (or, ideally, retreat) of the COVID-19 crisis continues to be the deciding factor in these decisions, and, as O’Connor has made very clear, the NBA is in no rush to decide anything. So the waiting game will continue for the foreseeable future, but it’s at least somewhat reassuring to know the league is still focused and, indeed, planning on returning to action.
