Coronavirus Notes: LeBron, Young, Curry, Temple
Lakers All-Star LeBron James spoke about his feelings on returning to the NBA amidst the coronavirus pandemic with his former Cavaliers teammates Richard Jefferson and Channing Frye – plus Lakers studio host Allie Clifton – for their Road Trippin’ Podcast (h/t to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin).
James feels uncomfortable about potentially playing games without fans. “So to get back on the floor, I would love it,” he said. “Let’s just go to each other’s practice facility, put out a camera, just scrimmage and livestream it. … I just don’t know how we can imagine a sporting event without fans. It’s just, it’s a weird dynamic.”
On the podcast, James also advocates for the NBA playing a handful of regular season games before the playoffs, assuming the 2019/20 season can resume at all. “One thing you can’t just do is go straight to the playoffs… Because it discredits the 60-plus games that guys had fighting for that position.”
Here are a few more items related to the coronavirus pandemic and the NBA’s hiatus:
- After the COVID-19 pandemic forced the NBA to postpone its season, All-Star Hawks point guard Trae Young returned from Atlanta to his offseason home near his family in Norman, Oklahoma, according to Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated.
- Warriors All-Star point guard Stephen Curry has been a solid voice of reason amidst the coronavirus chaos, as Ann Killion of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Curry hosted an informative 30-minute Q&A on his Instagram with Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
- Nets wing Garrett Temple has opted to use the NBA’s indefinite postponement to study for the LSATs, as he told the YES Network’s Michael Grady (h/t to New York Post’s Brian Lewis). “I’m going to be honest, I’ve been sleeping a good amount, but also trying to take on a new task,” Temple said. “I’ve actually started practicing for the LSAT prep.”
International Notes: German, Italian, VTB Leagues; Nigerian Team
New Nigerian national basketball team head coach Mike Brown, currently an associate head coach for the Warriors, notes that there is a silver lining to the coronavirus pandemic delaying the Tokyo Olympics for a year, according to The Undefeated’s Marc J. Spears: more time to develop the talent on his club.
“To have another year to grasp, not only the talent level of the team, but the direction the team needs to go and making sure we are able to put the best Nigerian team out there, it’s a welcomed advantage to have a little bit more time for a new guy like myself,” Brown told Spears.
Current NBA players Al-Farouq Aminu, Chimezie Metu and Josh Okogie all suited up for the 2019 Nigerian World Cup roster.
There’s more from the international basketball world:
- Germany’s EasyCredit BBL basketball league has been suspended until at least April 30 as a result of the rampant coronavirus spread throughout that country, per Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia.
- The top basketball league in Italy, LBA Serie A, hopes to resume team practices by May 16 if its 2019/20 season is to be completed, according to Sportando’s Dario Skerletic. The coronavirus pandemic has hit Italy particularly hard.
- Following a league-wide conference call, the VTB League (comprising teams from Kazakhstan, Estonia, Belarus, Poland, and Russia) has canceled its season, according to Jonathan Givony of Draft Express (Twitter link).
Community Shootaround: Defensive Player Of The Year
After exploring hypothetical ballots for 2019/20’s Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year earlier this week, we’re moving on today to a third award, Defensive Player of the Year.
Unlike the MVP or Rookie of the Year races, where one or two obvious frontrunners have emerged over the course of the season, the Defensive Player of the Year race is a little more wide open. There are certainly basic and advanced defensive statistics we can use to assess a player’s impact on that end of the court, but the eye test plays a significant role in evaluating a player’s defensive ability, so the award is more subjective.
One player most analysts agree deserves to be in consideration for this year’s Defensive Player of the Year award? Lakers big man Anthony Davis. Although teammate LeBron James looks like the stronger MVP candidate, Davis has often been the club’s last line of defense, protecting the rim and helping turn L.A. into one of the NBA’s stingiest teams — the Lakers rank third in defensive rating.
Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald and Zach Harper of The Athletic both had Davis atop their hypothetical Defensive Player of the Year ballots, while Dan Devine of The Ringer placed him second.
Devine’s top choice is Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo, whose elite defense is a major factor in his case for a second consecutive MVP award. Devine argues that Milwaukee’s top-ranked defense is as good as it is because Antetokonmpo can “essentially erase half the floor,” roaming around the court like an NFL free safety. Among high-volume defenders, Giannis ranked first in opponents’ field goal percentage, at 36.1%. He was on Harper’s and Murphy’s ballots as well.
Ben Simmons (Sixers), Bam Adebayo (Heat), Marcus Smart (Celtics), Brook Lopez (Bucks), and P.J. Tucker (Rockets) were among the other players to earn Defensive Player of the Year consideration from at least one of Devine, Murphy, and Harper. Interestingly, none of their three ballots included reigning DPOY Rudy Gobert, though Harper did give the Jazz center an honorable mention.
What do you think? Would you pick Davis, Antetokounmpo, or someone else as this year’s Defensive Player of the Year, assuming the season is over or close to it? What would your top three look like if you were submitting an official ballot?
Head to the comment section below to share your thoughts!
NBA Reducing Salaries For League’s Top Executives
The NBA is temporarily implementing a 20% base salary reduction for approximately 100 of its highest-earning executives around the world, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
The move may sound similar to one the Sixers considered earlier this week before they reversed course when met with a PR backlash. However, the key difference here is that the NBA’s cutbacks will only impact top league executives and senior leaders, as Wojnarowski explains. Support and administrative staffers will not see their salaries reduced.
Commissioner Adam Silver and deputy commissioner Mark Tatum are among those affected by the measures, which are expected to continue for as long as the coronavirus crisis lasts, sources tell ESPN. Most of the execs who will have their salaries reduced work in the league’s New York office, Woj adds.
NBA spokesperson Mike Bass didn’t explicitly confirm ESPN’s report, but offered the following statement:
“These are unprecedented times and, like other companies across all industries, we need to take short-term steps to deal with the harsh economic impact on our business and organization.”
Draft Updates: Bey, Robinson-Earl, Fitts, Crutcher, More
Villanova head coach Jay Wright expects both Saddiq Bey and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl to test the NBA draft process, he told reporters on Wednesday (Twitter link via Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports). Bey currently ranks 21st overall on ESPN’s big board, while Robinson-Earl is at No. 66, so it makes sense that they’re considering going pro.
Because neither player has made that decision official and Wright only “expects” them to declare, we’re not yet adding their names to our running list of early entrants. However, that list continues to grow. Here are details on some other players we’re adding today:
- Saint Mary’s forward Malik Fitts will forgo his final year of college eligibility and go pro, signing with agent Charles Briscoe for representation, per Evan Daniels of 247Sports. Fitts, who averaged 16.5 PPG and 7.1 RPG on .472/.408/.799 shooting as a junior, made his decision official in a Twitter post.
- Dayton junior guard Jalen Crutcher will test the draft waters, he tells Jeff Goodman of Stadium (Twitter link) and announced on his own Twitter account. He’s coming off a season in which he averaged 15.1 PPG and 4.9 APG with a .424 3PT%.
- St. Joe’s junior guard Ryan Daly, who averaged 20.5 PPG in 30 games this season, will declare for the draft while retaining his college eligibility, he tells Jeff Goodman of Stadium (Twitter link).
- North Carolina State’s D.J. Funderburk and Devon Daniels, who each have one year of NCAA eligibility remaining, will test the 2020 draft waters, head coach Kevin Keatts announced today, per R. Cory Smith of 247Sports. “They will learn a lot more about what the NBA folks think about them,” Keatts said of the Wolfpack duo. “They will take the feedback and make an informed decision.”
- Butler sophomore forward Jordan Tucker announced today on Twitter that he’s entering the 2020 NBA draft pool. “Being able to play in the NBA has been my dream since I was kid and I am excited to take this next step toward reaching it,” Tucker wrote.
Western Notes: Ball, Brunson, Mitchell, Klay
Pelicans guard Lonzo Ball has parted ways with Creative Artists Agency, a source tells Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. Melissa Rohlin of SI.com had reported earlier in the month that Ball was leaving CAA.
Ball originally cut ties with agent Harrison Gaines and joined CAA in April 2019, so he ended up spending less than a year with the agency. It’s not clear why he has opted for another change — it’s possible that the departure of veteran CAA agent Leon Rose for a role with the Knicks played a part in Ball’s decision, though the Pelicans guard was reportedly represented by Steven Heumann and Aaron Mintz.
Here’s more from around the Western Conference:
- Mavericks guard Jalen Brunson underwent shoulder surgery shortly after the league suspended its season earlier this month. Although Brunson may have a few months to recover, head coach Rick Carlisle said the 23-year-old won’t play again this season, even if the 2019/20 campaign runs well into the summer, per Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News (Twitter link).
- Within a Jazz mailbag, Tony Jones of The Athletic expresses confidence that Donovan Mitchell will sign a maximum-salary rookie scale extension before the 2020/21 season begins. Mitchell, who will be extension-eligible for the first time this offseason, would become a restricted free agent in 2021 if he doesn’t re-up with Utah before then.
- During an appearance on Dell and Sonya Curry’s podcast Raising Fame, Klay Thompson‘s father Mychal Thompson talked about the respect that his son has for Warriors teammate Stephen Curry, as Josh Shrock of NBC Sports Bay Area relays. “He has said it to me in private that he loves playing with Steph and he wants to retire as a Warrior after another 10 years,” the elder Thompson said.
Rockets’ Owner Unwilling To Sell Minority Shares?
Tilman Fertitta, the sole owner of the Rockets, won’t consider minority partners “as a matter of pride,” tweets ESPN’s Tim MacMahon.
MacMahon’s note on the Rockets owner comes at a time when Fertitta’s companies have furloughed approximately 70% of their employees, according to Davide Scigliuzzo of Bloomberg. Fertitta, who owns a series of casinos, hotels, and restaurants, said he has had to temporarily lay off approximately 40,000 employees as a result of coronavirus-related shutdowns.
Indicating that he wants to “hire every employee back,” Fertitta expressed confidence that his businesses will survive and even talked about possibly buying back some of the Golden Nugget’s debts when things turn around, per Bloomberg’s report.
Fertitta, who is hoping that restaurants and casinos will soon be permitted to operate at least at partial capacity, said he has been talking to banks about raising as much as $200MM in additional liquidity “as a little bit of insurance,” Scigliuzzo writes.
Selling off part of the Rockets to one or more minority stakeholders at any time since he assumed control of the team in 2017 would have helped provide Fertitta with additional liquidity, but he has long been averse to the idea. In October 2017, shortly after he took the reins in Houston, he indicated he might make an exception for pop star Beyoncé, who had previously considered an investment in the franchise. Otherwise though, he said, “I prefer to own 100 percent.”
Fertitta, who has appeared reluctant to pay the luxury tax since taking over as the Rockets’ owner, figures to be hit particularly hard by the NBA’s loss of revenue this season. Houston was believed to be the team with the most partnerships in China prior to Daryl Morey‘s tweet in support of protestors in Hong Kong, which reportedly cost the team many of those business ties.
Christian Wood Reportedly “Fully Recovered” From Coronavirus
MARCH 26: Wood has been cleared, having registered negative test results on Wednesday evening, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
MARCH 25: Christian Wood, who was the only Pistons player known to have contracted the coronavirus, has “fully recovered,” according to his agent, as our own Dana Gauruder writes for The Detroit Free Press.
Wood is one of at least 10 NBA players known to have test positive for COVID-19. Gauruder hears from a source that Wood still has to pass a few medical tests and is expected to be cleared by Thursday.
The Pistons played the Jazz on March 7, just days before the news of Rudy Gobert‘s diagnosis and the NBA’s suspension of the season. Detroit, like other squads in the league, was asked to self-isolate. That period of isolation ended today.
Gauruder adds that 17 members of the Pistons were tested for the virus, including five players.
According to the World Health Organization, the median recovery time for mild cases of coronavirus is about two weeks. For critical or severe cases, it’s about three-to-six weeks.
Coronavirus Notes: NBA Schedule, Workouts, Positive Tests
As NBA observers continue to speculate that the current suspension could inspire the league to experiment with its schedule in 2020/21, Chris Mannix of SI.com explores the pros and cons of an NBA regular season that would run from December to June instead of October to April.
As Mannix notes, much of the resistance to such a format change over the years has stemmed from the belief that there simply aren’t as many television viewers in the summer months, which could negatively impact the NBA’s playoff ratings. However, Mannix points out that summer programming has never been particularly strong, which contributes to those low viewership numbers. In recent years, high-profile television programs ranging from HBO series to boxing matches have done well in July and August.
Several players told SI.com that they’d be open to a schedule that includes summer games if it results in a revenue increase for the league. With the current Collective Bargaining Agreement set to run through 2024, as Mannix writes, a revamped calendar could be something for the two sides to discuss for the next CBA.
Here are a few more items related to the coronavirus pandemic and the NBA’s hiatus:
- Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald takes his own look at possible NBA schedule changes, suggesting that waiting for the next set of full-fledged CBA negotiations may not even be necessary if both sides are on board with the idea of adjusting the calendar.
- In an interesting story for ESPN.com, Tim Bontemps and Tim MacMahon explore how the training staffs for NBA teams are trying to make sure their players stay active and in shape while facilities around the league are off-limits.
- East Tennessee State head coach Steve Forbes tweeted on Wednesday night that Maury Hanks is battling the coronavirus. As noted by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link), among other reporters, Hanks is a longtime basketball coach and scout who currently works as a college scout for the Pistons.
- A camera operator who worked the Jazz/Pistons game in Detroit on March 7 is in a medically induced coma after being diagnosed with COVID-19, according to Vincent Goodwill and Dan Wetzel of Yahoo Sports. The man’s friends told Yahoo Sports that he first began feeling ill about a week after that game.
FSU’s Patrick Williams Declares For 2020 Draft
Florida State freshman forward Patrick Williams is entering his name in the 2020 NBA draft pool, he confirms to Evan Daniels of 247Sports.
Williams put up modest numbers in his first – and possibly only – college season, averaging 9.2 PPG and 4.0 RPG with a .459/.320/.838 shooting line in 29 games (22.5 MPG). However, he has impressed NBA scouts and appears likely to become a first-round pick if he remains in the draft.
Williams currently ranks 20th overall on ESPN’s big board and comes in at No. 25 on 247Sports’ list. One scout tells Daniels that the freshman’s long-term three-and-D potential is intriguing.
Two Florida State underclassmen have now declared for the 2020 draft, as Williams joins teammate Devin Vassell, another probable first-round pick. Our running list of early entrants can be found right here.