Veteran forward Jared Dudley is pessimistic that the NBA will resume its season after this indefinite hiatus, he explained on FOX Sports Radio this week.
Dudley joins a growing list of NBA players and officials who are skeptical about whether the league can resume its regular season. The overall concern, he explains, is focused around limiting injuries.
“Once I heard the news of no more practice facilities, if that goes for a month or month-and-a-half to two months, I find it almost impossible to then have a season because now you’re telling a professional athlete, ‘For 60-to-80 days you’ve done no training,'” Dudley said.
League officials know that resuming the regular season after several weeks of limited training would be risky unless each team is awarded ample time of preparation, much like what’s already being offered in the fall with training camps. Dudley estimates that 70% of athletes don’t have a personal gym inside their home to utilize during this break.
“I’m not optimistic right now at all for a season to be honest with you,” Dudley said. “Unless something happens here in the next 30 days where they open back up the facilities. But how do they do that? Once everyone starts getting tested you’re going to hear more and more cases because it’s a very common thing to get.”
The NBA is discussing a plethora of different avenues to take as this unprecedented hiatus continues, with commissioner Adam Silver open to receiving suggestions from the league’s players, coaches, agents, executives and fans for the time being.
Here are some other notes related to the NBA’s hiatus:
- The Trail Blazers and owner Jody Allen have committed more than $4MM towards COVID-19 relief efforts, the team announced on social media (Twitter link). The money will assist game night employees impacted by the league’s postponement.
- The Ballmer Group, founded by Clippers owner Steve Ballmer and his wife, Connie, have donated $1MM to community groups in Los Angeles to help during the coronavirus epidemic, Andrew Greif of the Los Angeles Times writes.
- Suns guard Devin Booker is pledging $100L through Twitch livestreaming to support non-profits that best serve the needs of the most vulnerable in the community, the team announced in a press release. Phoenix Suns Charities will match Booker’s initial donation, the release adds.
- Mark Cuban, Luka Doncic and Dwight Powell have teamed up with the Mavericks Foundation to donate $500,000 to the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and Parkland Hospital, the team announced (Twitter link). The funds will support childcare for healthcare workers on the frontlines of the COVID-19 response.
As the league privately knows the “quarantine season” is approaching an end they will allow team facilities to be open to individual (and possibly small-group) workouts that eventually evolve to coaches being able to monitor, leading to the next step of a mini training camp.
League would never, obviously, go from players doing basically nothing to jumping right into actual games after just a few practices and shooting sessions.
I think when it’s all done and said, if the season does get to finish (by playing), we’ll hear comments from players that, while they didn’t like the circumstances of having to stop play, they did appreciate the time off.
May even make the league think about implementing something like a mandatory week off after the All-Star Game, followed by another 3-5 days of on-court “preparation” towards finishing the last third of the season (and Playoffs).
Which would fall right in line with silvers plan for his asg tourney or you thinking a hard reset/ time off? Like your idea just want to get more of your opinion on this
I think after this situation, the players will prefer the reset… with that they can still play 82 games and there’d be no need for a mid season tournament to offset revenue loss of less games.
And everyone will be mentally and physically fresh heading into the last part of the season and playoffs. I just think the Currys, LeBrons, Kawhis will all mention (again, despite the unfortunate circumstance), the lay-off was actually a blessing, and Silver – always looking to out-do Stern – may see something there as a way to improve the league… while keeping the 82 game schedule!
Blazers will be hoping the league resumes. They will most likely have Nurkic and Collins back and are only going to be 3 games behind the Griz. McCollum and Lillard will be well rested for a big playoff push
Players are already rich; many will find a reason not to show up, pitting the NBA operation as a whole at risk. Players have already bought into the priority of self-development and preservation.
I’m not sure what the event or condition is, that informs us that this thing has blown over. Nobody comes out and says there will be a warm-weather break, or that a vaccine has met all approvals and is ready for distribution, or that an antibody spreading process is even a thing. Yet everyone has been counting on a cessation happening, and with little effort or expense or trouble having been made that is equal to the threat.
A solution of: Everyone go home until we say its okay, whenever that is?– ridiculous. There is a quiet mass mutiny going on right now with political figures either ignoring it or ignorant. People like having a job!
It’s all open-ended like the Iran/Afghanistan wars, which are still in effect.
Put up the white flag politicians, stop criminalizing everyone still active, and prepare for the next wave. The ability to manufacture or direct the manufacturing will be needed like it or not.