NBPA president Chris Paul arranged a private conference call with a number of the league’s superstars on Monday to discuss the coronavirus ramifications and the potential resumption of the 2019/20 season, league sources tell Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.
By the end of the conversation, per Haynes, those players were united in their desire to resume the season once the NBA ensures the necessary safety measures are in place and gets the green light. According to Haynes, LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Stephen Curry, Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, Damian Lillard, and Russell Westbrook were among the players on the call.
As Haynes explains, the group’s decision is expected to carry significant weight at a time when not all of the NBA’s players are necessarily on board with the idea of completing the 2019/20 season this summer.
Sources tell Yahoo Sports that many players on teams who are all but eliminated from playoff contention would prefer to just have the top eight clubs in each conference finish the season. The fact that stars outside the playoff picture, such as Curry and Lillard, are in favor of resuming play is significant.
According to Haynes, there was also some concern among players after Friday’s call that the NBA wouldn’t be able to guarantee player safety, with a coronavirus vaccine not expected to be available until 2021 at the earliest. Commissioner Adam Silver assured players that the league will do all it can to create the safest possible conditions, and it sounds like the stars on Monday’s call are satisfied with that promise.
Haynes notes that there are some players out of the playoff picture who are worried about a canceled season negatively impacting the league’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. That’s an issue we’ve touched upon in recent days, with Adrian Wojnarowski, Bob Myers, and Mark Cuban among those who have suggested that lottery teams will have to prioritize the “greater good” of the league, since the NBA and its players would benefit financially over the long term from playing as many games as it safely can this year and next.
As we relayed earlier this afternoon, the NBPA has reportedly begun reaching out to individual players to get their feedback on whether or not they want the season to resume.
gotta start what you finish
Yes what you said lol
How to Resume basketball
Start by opening all gyms to only players and coaches for trainings for the next 2 weeks. Then deciding a opening date (end of this month).
From there the players would be reasonably ready to start playing again.
Start the season with a play into playoffs subtle tournament. Teams with 40 regular season wins automatically qualify for playoffs. Teams with under 22 wins automatically can’t qualify for playoffs. Meaning there’s 1 playoff spot open in the West with 6 teams competing and there’s 4 playoff spots in the East with 6 teams competing.
Have the tournament run over 1 week. With all teams playing 2 back to backs and playing one other game (5 games total). For example you might have Blazers play Pelicans Monday, play Spurs Tuesday, play Rockets Thursday, play Sixers Saturday and play Magic Sunday.
From that tournament you find the teams for the playoffs to begin. Tie breakers are decided by regular season records. For example if Blazers and Pelicans both win 3 games from 5 then Blazers ho through as they have 1 more regular season win.
Then have the playoff series resume as normal but with the first round being 5 games, second round being 5 game and last two rounds being 7 game series.
All NBA teams get games. All teams just outside the playoffs get the chance to play into the playoffs. Teams with good records get cemented playoff spots and use games as warm ups. The bottom teams also get to play games. And we have a playoff series that’s almost like normal.
Not a chance that happens.
Probably not likely but it carries lots of positives and not much negatives.
First of all the top teams and bottom teams can agree upon it because they both get some games to finish out the “regular season”. Teams such as Portland, New Orleans and San Antonio all probably really like it because it gives them a chance of making the playoffs. However teams like Philly on 39 wins probably aren’t two happy not getting a cemented playoff spot but they have a 4/6 chance of making it and their competition includes the Wizards and Hornets.
I think it is the closest mix between being fair to teams just outside the playoffs and actually being able to finish the season for all teams. It gives teams near the playoffs the chance to get to the playoffs, while also giving top teams some warm up games for playoffs and the bottom teams games and minutes to give to your players.
Plus Adam Silver has been wanting an in season tournament for awhile and this would be the perfect time to trail one because you don’t exactly have enough time to finish the regular season but you have to give teams games before the playoffs. Having a 1 week style tournament probably all inside 1 state means there is minimal risk on players and staff also.
End of the day they won’t ever be able to make up for lost time and finish the season properly. Atleast this gives all the teams a close to the season and gives the competing teams and players are chance of winning the title
A single-elim play-in tournament after a 70-game RS runup would be a good incentive in getting all teams to show up at all.
That can be the bubble phase.
At some point, then go to seven-game serieses for the title, but the details of that do not have to be worked out in the beginning, and then only among the two, four or eight teams left.
Playoff games can be of shortened length to get multiple games in for a series.