Coronavirus Notes: Plumlee, Martins, More

Speaking on Tuesday to Mike Singer of The Denver Post, Nuggets center Mason Plumlee said “people are very optimistic” that the 2019/20 NBA season will be resumed and completed. Denver’s former NBPA rep, Plumlee suggested that he has learned from union meetings that there are “a lot of proposals” out there, with strategies being developed to resume play — of course, none of those scenarios will involve fans in attendance.

“People know that we’re playing for the TV at this point. It’s unrealistic to expect any kind of attendance,” Plumlee told Singer in a phone interview. “I know that they’ve talked about cutting down the travel party. I’ve heard proposals of one city, two cities, three cities with 10 teams (each), an expedited finish to the season or a differentiated version of the playoffs.”

Plumlee also expressed confidence that if and when the season is resumed, players will get a ramping-up period of at least a couple weeks, with that time essentially serving as a de facto training camp.

“Some people were pushing for four (weeks), some for two,” Plumlee said. “That remains to be seen. I don’t think that they’ll just call everybody up and within the week we’ll be having live games.”

Here’s more on the NBA’s coronavirus-related stoppage and potential plans to resume play:

  • As Singer relays, Plumlee is curious to find out what next season’s schedule would look like if the 2019/20 campaign runs deep into the summer. The Nuggets big man sounds open to the December-August season proposed by Hawks CEO Steve Koonin prior to the pandemic. “It’s interesting, I know a lot of people have quoted the Atlanta Hawks (CEO), but there has been thought around starting the season later anyway based on our fall (TV) ratings,” Plumlee said. “A lot of it has to do with next season as well and if there’s a willingness to start next season in November or December. Maybe this is just something that leads to a new NBA schedule, we don’t know.”
  • Magic CEO Alex Martins confirmed on Tuesday that the NBA is willing to extend its 2019/20 season into September if necessary, as Roy Parry of The Orlando Sentinel writes. “Our league has decided that we’re going to try to get in as much of our season and playoffs as the data will allow us to,” Martins told a local task force for reopening businesses. “We’ll play as late as Labor Day if we have to and – as was reported this past week – we’ve been having initial discussions about even delaying the start of next season based on trying to get as much as this season in as possible.”
  • In order to better understand COVID-19 and promote efforts to develop a vaccine, the NBA and its players are supporting a Mayo Clinic study for antibodies using blood-based tests, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
  • In case you missed it, here’s our Monday roundup of coronavirus-related notes.
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