Marks said the NBA has a proven track record of being very creative and having a collaborative approachNBAE/GETTY IMAGES
Nets GM Sean Marks said the NBA and Commissioner Adam Silver are "turning over every rock they possibly can" in order to finish the season once the coronavirus pandemic dissipates, according to Greg Logan of NEWSDAY. Marks yesterday said, "We've seen before with commissioner Silver and the league, they have a proven track record of being very creative, being very fluid and having a collaborative approach to this. So, it would not surprise me in the slightest when they do come out with whatever the next couple of months look like" (NEWSDAY, 4/2). ESPN's Stephen A. Smith noted there are a "lot of people contemplating a doomsday scenario where the NBA has to cancel its season." However, he said "I can assure you, with the numerous NBA folks that I’ve spoken to, nobody is thinking cancellation. They’re thinking about finding a city or two, quarantining players and two to four hotels where only NBA personnel and immediate family members are available.” Smith said even though Mavericks Owner Mark Cuban “used the word ‘hope,’ lot of people in the NBA are even more optimistic than that." Smith: "They refuse to give up on the season just yet” (“SportsCenter,” ESPN, 4/1).
VIEW FROM TORONTO: Raptors President Masai Ujiri on the importance of resuming the season said, "We salvage the NBA season by abiding by the rules and doing everything that we have to do as people, as a community, everything we possible can. This is not about the NBA, NBA players, NBA fans. It's about the whole world" (TORONTO STAR, 4/2). Ujiri said that this shutdown has "not been a time for basketball negotiating." He added that neither he nor coach Nick Nurse have "used this time to talk to the Raptors about contract extensions." Contracts for both Ujiri and Nurse expire after the '20-21 season. Ujiri said, "It's not kind of where our minds are right now" (GLOBE & MAIL, 4/2). In Toronto, Mike Ganter notes Ujiri "spends his days in his home on the phone -- web calls, video calls with his players, with his management team, with other team heads and NBA front office types ensuring the people in his care are first of all healthy and the game he loves remains functioning." Then there are calls with various heads of state around the world "ensuring his Giants of Africa interests and his work with Basketball Without Borders doesn't fall by the wayside while the world deals" with the pandemic (TORONTO SUN, 4/2).
CLEAN FINISH? In Ft. Lauderdale, Ira Winderman writes he is "coming around" to the notion that the NBA should cancel the rest of the season. Winderman: "Consider that just two weeks from now, the season was scheduled to be over for 14 of the 40 teams. By the end of this month, that would have been the case for 22 teams. So you either keep pushing the schedule out, as well as all the other offseason ancillary events, or you return to more of an NBA normalcy." Rather than than impacting future seasons in an attempt to "milk every possibility of this season," the NBA "could return to somewhat of a more typical offseason" (South Florida SUN-SENTINEL, 4/2). ESPN's Kendrick Perkins said he is "totally against" the idea of finishing the season at a neutral, centralized location. Perkins: “There’s no way that I would be leaving my family during this pandemic. ... The NBA needs to do what they do best, and that’s lead by example. Set the tone of us social distancing ourselves and making sure that the world is clear of this situation” (“Get Up," ESPN, 4/2). SI.com graded the possible NBA regular-season scenarios (4/1).
