The NBA continues to operate in an everything-is-on-the-table way when it comes to ideasGETTY IMAGES
No one knows "what's next and when 'next' will happen" with the NBA season, as the league "remains in a holding pattern -- planning for a reboot it knows might not come this year," according to Dan Woike of the L.A. TIMES. NBA players in the last week have "received their regular paychecks while their union and the league continued discussions about how to handle the financial repercussions of possibly canceling games." That still "hasn't happened -- there were even some who thought an 82-game season still was possible if the league could begin playing by June 1." But Woike wrote even optimists "feel those possible cancellations are more likely." While the NBA continues to operate in an "everything-is-on-the-table" way when it comes to ideas, there is a "strong sentiment among teams to postpone the draft, which is scheduled for June 25." Woike noted when, how and if the season can return is "tied to" myriad factors: the "availability of rapid testing, herd immunity, the ability to test for antibodies, better treatment and on and on." There is "so much to figure out with an almost daily change in facts" (L.A. TIMES, 4/12).
POSSIBLE SCENARIOS: ESPN.com's Brian Windhorst notes various execs and team medical personnel "have been discussing possible protocols to get players ready for games, wherever they could be staged." Sources said that one proposed idea is a "25-day program for players to go through before they resume game play." Under the plan, players "would go through an 11-day stretch of individual workouts in which they could maintain some measure of social distancing while ramping up training and activity." Then, if permitted by medical officials, the idea "would be to allow for a two-week training camp with entire teams participating" (ESPN.com, 4/13). Windhorst, on why it would take 25 days to restart play once coronavirus is controlled: “They are really concerned about injuries on players.” The “trainers and medical personnel are really worried, if there’s a restart, that there could be injuries even in the practices leading up” (“Get Up,” ESPN, 4/13).
TIME WILL TELL: NBA Commissioner Adam Silver during a video conference said that the league "will wait until at least May 1 to decide when, or if, the season will resume." He said that the NBA "will ensure the safety of its players, team officials, and arena employees before even considering a resumption of play." In Boston, Gary Washburn noted what is evident is that the league is "likely to move forward without fans, at least temporarily." The best idea is "to hold training camps at the beginning of July, allowing teams three weeks to get into basketball shape before meeting in a central location to continue the regular season" (BOSTON GLOBE, 4/12).
DELAY THE DRAFT: ESPN.com's Wojnarowski & Givony cited sources as saying that many NBA teams are "united in hopes of encouraging the league office to push the date of the draft from June 25 to no sooner than Aug. 1." Team execs said that shifting the draft date would "give organizations more time to salvage the essential elements of the pre-draft process." An Aug. 1 date "would be flexible, based on whether the league restarts and advances the regular season and playoffs through the summer." In that case, most "envision a September draft and free-agency period based on a season that concludes around Labor Day weekend" (ESPN.com, 4/10). In Arizona, Duane Rankin wrote the NBA has an "extensive draft process that includes individual workouts on team sites, in-person interviews and physical exams," but there is "no way any of these can happen in the near future with COVID-19" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 4/11).
SETTING AN EXAMPLE? In N.Y., Marc Stein notes Taiwan's Super Basketball League is "believed to be the world's only widely recognized professional basketball league that is operating during the coronavirus pandemic." The SBL relocated to the HaoYu Basketball Training Center to "stage all games there and ensure gatherings in the building never strayed beyond 100 occupants." The only people allowed inside, beyond the teams playing and the referees, are "camera operators for the television broadcasts, officials found at the scorer's table, and journalists at a press-row table behind one of the baskets." Stein writes perhaps there is "something for the NBA to glean from the SBL's experience, even accounting for the Taiwanese league's much smaller scale." When they arrive at the door, SBL players are "greeted by league officials who check their temperature with a forehead thermometer and record the information next to each player's name." Any player with a temperature "above 99.5 degrees Fahrenheit is refused entry to the facility." The Chinese Basketball Association, with 20 teams, is "understandably seen as a more representative study guide for the NBA, and the CBA continues to inch closer to a return after a stoppage that has lasted more than three months." But it is "reasonable to expect the NBA to mimic some of the SBL's game-night protocols" (N.Y. TIMES, 4/13).
