A faction of NBA players has been discussing as a group whether restarting the season in Orlando is a good idea, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who reports (via Twitter) that “several dozen” players took part in a conference call within the last 24 hours to talk about the issue.
Even as the NBA and NBPA get closer to reaching an agreement on many details tied to the league’s return to play, some players are hesitant to fully embrace the plan and have been discussing issues related to the return, including concerns about their families, COVID-19, and social justice, says Wojnarowski.
Players aren’t expected to be permitted to bring family members into the Orlando bubble until September, after the first round of the postseason concludes. Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press tweets that he has heard “many” players are unhappy about that fact.
Meanwhile, coronavirus cases appear to be on the rise in Florida, including in the Orange County region, where the NBA’s return would take place, as Reynolds tweets. Additionally, NBA analyst and former player Matt Barnes told Josiah Johnson (Twitter link) over the weekend that he has spoken to some players who want the rest of the season canceled in order to focus on addressing injustices in the Black community.
It’s not clear, based on Woj’s reporting, what percentage of players are having reservations about the resumption of the season or if their concerns will slow down a potential agreement between the league and the players’ union. However, even if those concerned players are outnumbered, that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll be forced to report to Orlando.
According to Wojnarowski (via Twitter), the NBA and NBPA will likely agree on a provision that will ensure players aren’t subjected to discipline if they decide to stay home this summer when play resumes. Those players would lose a portion of their salaries for the games they miss, but otherwise wouldn’t be fined or suspended.
It remains to be seen how serious an issue this could be as the NBA gears up for a restart — we should get a better sense in the coming days and weeks about how many players are reluctant to participate and whether they’ll feel pressured to do so.
I thought leaving the families at home until after the first round was a pretty good idea. Consider it a “work road trip” and you’ll be away from home for two weeks, which is not bad. Happens all the time. It saves dozens of people from coming to Orlando.
Then when the second round begins family can arrive because three or four weeks away from the family is a lot tougher. But I guess there’s a lot more to think about than just being away from the family for two weeks. I hope they iron this out so everyone is pleased.
Players, coaches and staff would be arriving in Orlando July 7 and would not be able to spend even one day with their wives and kids until Septemmer (Aug 25 earliest). Coaches and staff may not be permitted to see their families at all, including those who are not well paid. Add to that, the risk of COVID-19 and it’s a big deal. It’s not a 2 week road trip.
So players want to quit basketball and become an activist?
The NBA is expected to ask staff from the season’s 22 remaining teams to submit their personal medical histories, and a panel of physicians will review the records, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Zach Lowe.
The aim is reportedly to assess the risk of illness from COVID-19 for those inside the league’s closed-campus environment when the season resumes at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando at the end of July.
Club staff members would submit their health history to a team physician, who would forward the information to at least one physician outside the organization. Then, the staff member would reportedly receive a recommendation.
There are already expected to be limitations on the number of people each organization can bring into the bubble. Proposals the National Basketball Players Association discussed on Friday include a maximum of 35 people in each team’s travel party, and no more than 1,600 individuals in the bubble at any given time, The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported.
Only if they can keep cashing those big paychecks.
If they don’t want to play that’s ok as well, just dock pay accordingly.
Let teams sign a player to replace them with.
Just cancel the rest of the season and focus on getting the 2020/21 season up and running when it’s scheduled to …
Agreed
disagreed
I have said for months: there are going to be no-shows for resumption. Plan for it. Mainly, the league should not make a big deal of it and draw attention to it and blow it out of proportion.
There will be more singles attending than marrieds.
Excuses will abound, with mixed but adequate validity.
Choose the good enough OR the perfect; they oppose.
Should of been the 16 playoff teams(already seeded). 5 warm up games(east only plays west, vice versa) & straight to the playoffs. This would have saved them a month.
Haven’t they spent enough time with their families already? Tell them the strips clubs are open in the area and watch them forget about their families asap
Boy they come across as a group of pampered babies! Health worries… Really??? They have to be kidding me, right? Tell that to supermarket workers or caring staff working for a few bucks per hour & has risked their life for months now, meanwhile these guys are paid millions for a job that doesn’t involve any risk at all.
Players who don’t show up, should be fired from their teams & not paid their salary.
They can only be activists for the name they have as players, so don’t kid yourselves if you don’t play no one cares about what you say.
They will destroy the chemistry of their teams if they don’t show up, hence why they need to be fired. Certainly I wouldn’t be happy to miss a couple important guys in my team when it comes the business end of the season, for they to wanna be back at the beginning of the season when it doesn’t matter if they come or not.
For sure if any of my favourite players don’t turn up, I will stop liking them, I know no one cares about me, but I do care about my integrity & I believe people must have the courage of their convictions, sure I do have that!
What he said…..
waaahhhhhh. shut up and dribble for my entertainment.
not sure of the mental gymnastics employed to convince oneself that because some take risk, this means others should also take risk and be comfortable and like said risk.
you’re right no one cares about your opinion, and while you may have courage of your convictions since this is a message board we’d all appreciate if you could get a better grasp on English grammar.