NBA Continues To Mull Possible Playoff Scenarios
As industries across North America and around the world continue to be hit hard by the ongoing effects of the coronavirus pandemic, NBA executives are still hanging onto hope that the 2020 postseason can be salvaged, writes Marc Berman of The New York Post.
“They’re very determined to have a champion,” one source told The Post.
League executives are hoping it will be possible to play five-to-seven regular season games followed by a 16-team playoff, according to Berman, who suggests those games would all happen in a single city and would be played behind closed doors. The NBA only wants to consider a single-elimination postseason as a last resort, but reducing each round to a best-of-three series is a possibility. One league official tells Berman that “nothing is off the table.”
Previous reports have suggested that the NBA would like to have each team play at least 70 regular season games, since there’s language in regional TV deals calling for a minimum of 70 local games. However, that has become less of a priority as of late, according to Berman, who adds that that idea of completing the full regular season is essentially a non-starter at this point.
A best-case scenario might see the NBA resume its 2019/20 season in late June or early July, with the intent of pushing the start of the ’20/21 campaign back to December, says Berman.
As for where the season might be completed if it resumes, one report last week said the league was eyeing Las Vegas as a candidate, since the city has multiple venues and has a preexisting relationship with the NBA as a result of Summer League. Berman confirms that Vegas is a possibility, but suggests the NBA has also had “internal talks” about locales such as Orlando, Atlantic City, Hawaii, and Louisville.
NCAA Basketball Players Won’t Get Extra Year of Eligibility
The NCAA Division I Council ruled that winter sports athletes will not have their eligibility extended, despite having their seasons shortened due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to an NCAA press release.
The decision obviously impacts Division I basketball players, most of whom were preparing for or playing in league tournaments when play was halted. Council members declined to extend eligibility for student-athletes in sports where all or much of their regular seasons were completed.
Seniors now have exhausted their eligibility and won’t have the option of returning to school for another season and a chance to play the NCAA Tournament. The decision shouldn’t have a dramatic impact on the draft with so many potential draft picks being early entrants.
The decision eases the concerns of some college coaches about having an excess of scholarship players due to their commitments with incoming freshmen.
Spring-sport athletes have been granted an additional season of eligibility.
New Dates Set For Tokyo Olympics
MARCH 30: The International Olympic Committee and the rest of the organizing bodies for the Tokyo Olympics have officially announced that the Games are now scheduled to take place from July 23 to August 8, 2021.
MARCH 29: The International Olympic Committee will set July 23, 2021 as the new target date for the opening of the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, reports Tariq Panja of The New York Times. An emergency IOC meeting will be held today to consider the decision.
A final ruling could come in weeks, according to the IOC, but a source tells Panja that an announcement is expected much sooner. NHK, the Japanese state broadcaster, also reported July 23 as the new target date Saturday.
The games had been set to begin on July 24 of this year, but were postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic. IOC spokesman Mark Adams refused to confirm the new date, calling it “speculation.”
It makes sense to keep a similar schedule, Panja writes, because it’s easier to fit into the sports calendar and it’s the preferred date for NBCUniversal, which is paying more than $1 billion to broadcast the Games. IOC president Thomas Bach told reporters this week that federations representing swimming, table tennis, triathlon and equestrian wanted to move the games to the spring, but that would have interfered with professional soccer seasons and some U.S. sports, including the NBA.
Organizers still face the challenge of securing sites for the rescheduled Games and taking care of facilities that may sit idle for an entire year.
“A Games has never been postponed before,” Bach said. “We have no blueprint, but we are nevertheless confident we can put a beautiful jigsaw puzzle together and will then in the end have a wonderful Olympic Games.”
Keeping the Games in mid-summer will make it easier to attract stars from soccer, tennis and golf, which are among the top television attractions. The availability of basketball players will depend on how this season and next season are restructured in the NBA and other leagues around the world once the pandemic is under control.
Marcus Smart Cleared From Coronavirus
Celtics guard Marcus Smart has officially been cleared from COVID-19, he announced on social media (Twitter link).
The clearance came from the Massachusetts Department of Health, with Smart originally testing positive for the disease two weeks ago.
“Corona Free as of two days ago,” Smart wrote. “Cleared by Mass Dept of Health. Thanks for everyone’s thoughts and prayers and I’m doing the same for everyone that’s been effected by this. Stay safe and stay together- apart! Much love!”
Smart joins Rudy Gobert, Donovan Mitchell and Christian Wood as known NBA players to be cleared from the coronavirus. Several other figures around the league, including Brooklyn star Kevin Durant, also contracted the virus this month.
Smart, who’s in his sixth season with the Celtics, is averaging a career-high 13.5 points, 4.8 assists and 1.6 steals per contest.
James Dolan Tests Positive For Coronavirus
Knicks owner James Dolan has tested positive for COVID-19, according to a tweet from the team. Dolan is “experiencing little to no symptoms” of the virus, the statement adds. He is in self-isolation and continues to oversee business operations of the Madison Square Garden Company.
A source tells Marc Berman of the New York Post that Dolan is with his family in the Hamptons and learned of his test results earlier this week.
Ten NBA players have tested positive for the coronavirus over the past 17 days, but Dolan is the first high-level executive known to have contracted it. The Knicks have avoided public comment on the virus since it began affecting the league, but their players have likely not been tested and have been permitted to return to their homes, according to Steve Popper of Newsday (Twitter link).
Dolan, 64, has been a controversial figure in New York as the Knicks have fallen on hard times under his ownership. His image has also been damaged by public disputes with beloved figures in the Garden such as Charles Oakley and Spike Lee.
The news about Dolan comes a day after Madison Square Garden set up a relief fund that will offer financial assistance to employees and will provide them with a salary through at least May 3. The MSG Relief Fund was announced in a letter sent to employees Friday night, writes Larry Brooks of The New York Post.
The fund was created with a $1MM donation from the Madison Square Garden Company and a matching donation from the Dolan Family Foundation. The MSG management team put in another $300K and contributions are expected from the Knicks and the NHL’s Rangers.
“I knew they’d do the right thing and they did,” said union president James Claffey. “It’s a very generous offer. It wasn’t negotiated. They just gave it, here’s what they wanted to do for our stage crews and other entertainment workers. We didn’t request it. And they’re taking care equally well of the other unions.”
Italian League To Cancel Season
After chatter just a few days ago of possibly resuming practice in May, the top basketball league in Italy, LBA Serie A, now intends to cancel the rest of its 2019/20 season and concentrate on a resumption of league play in 2020/21, per Sportando’s Ennio Terrasi Borghesan.
A champion will not be selected. Italian Basketball Federation honorary president Dino Meneghin made a statement confirming as much, as Emiliano Carchia of Sportando reported.
“We must follow the rules dictated by the Government to preserve out health,” Meneghin said. “We will cancel the season, it is needed. Life is more important than sports. Now it is essential to give everyone the opportunity to save his own life.”
Jamal Crawford Staying In Shape For Possible NBA Return
If and when the NBA season resumes, there will be a lot to figure out in regards to how much of the regular season will be played and how the playoff format will be adjusted. For teams in search of help, one notable veteran remains unsigned and is eager to help.
Jamal Crawford has made it known he wants to resume playing and continues to stay prepared with that goal in mind, as he told ESPN’s Kenny Mayne on SportsCenter on Friday.
“I’ve been training as if I’m playing…Hopefully, I’ll get another chance to get back out there,” Crawford said, repeating his statement from November in which he was “baffled.”
Crawford, 40, spent last season in an uneven role with the Suns, averaging 7.9 PPG in 64 games, his lowest average since his rookie campaign. However, he did score 51 points in the season’s final game. The three-time Sixth Man of the Year had spent five of the prior six campaigns as a reliable bench weapon for the Clippers.
In his career, Crawford has also suited up for the Bulls, Knicks, Warriors, Hawks and Blazers.
Heat Veteran Udonis Haslem Not Thinking About Retirement
Depending on whether or not the NBA resumes the 2019/20 season, it could represent the end of the line for longtime Heat veteran Udonis Haslem. The 39-year-old has served as a team leader in recent years, appearing in just 43 games over the last four seasons.
Since 2003, Haslem has been a mainstay in South Beach, helping Miami win several championships while also working with young Heat players on the rise. It could all be over, but Haslem has not weighed the possibility of retirement just yet.
“Yeah, I mean, everybody, obviously, it comes to mind,” Haslem said during a conference call on Friday, per Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. “For me, I’m still maintaining hope that we can salvage some of the basketball season. So I haven’t gotten to that point yet. And in the midst of all this, there is a lot going on.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has put the entire world in a standstill, including that of professional sports. Haslem recently published a strong Players’ Tribune writeup urging people to take the coronavirus spread seriously by practicing social distancing.
“I’m seeing people starting to make the move, and starting to impact,” he said. “I’m sure it wasn’t just my letter. I’m sure a lot people had ideas in mind about what they wanted to do and how they wanted to do it. I’m just seeing everybody coming together.”
It’s been clear that Haslem is valued as a veteran leader for a young Heat team that – before the season’s suspension – was among the best in the Eastern Conference. As the league remains hopeful to resume the campaign, Haslem admitted that thinking about the game is challenging.
“Right now, there are bigger things going on than basketball,” Haslem said. “So it’s really kind of hard to focus on basketball.”
Jazz Stars Gobert, Mitchell Cleared Of Coronavirus
The Jazz issued a statement today announcing that all their players and staff have been cleared by the Utah Department of Health after completing their two-week self-isolation periods, as Eric Walden of The Salt Lake Tribune relays.
“The Utah Department of Health has determined that all Jazz players and staff, regardless of prior testing status, no longer pose a risk of infection to others,” the team said in the statement.
That means that All-Stars Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell, who each tested positive for the coronavirus earlier this month, have now been cleared, as Shams Charania of The Athletic confirms (via Twitter).
Gobert, Mitchell, and Pistons big man Christian Wood – the first three NBA players known to have been affected by COVID-19 – have now all been medically cleared and are no longer carrying the virus.
While we’re likely to see more coronavirus cases affecting NBA players and personnel in the coming weeks, it’s good news that several of those who were first diagnosed have come out the other side and made full recoveries.
Killian Hayes Entering 2020 NBA Draft
French point guard Killian Hayes has officially made the decision to declare for the 2020 NBA draft, he tells Jonathan Givony of ESPN.
“I am officially declaring for the NBA draft,” Hayes wrote in an email to ESPN. “I have sent in paperwork to the league office and I’m very excited.”
Hayes, who had been playing in Germany this season before the coronavirus situation caused a stoppage, was averaging 12.0 PPG and 5.6 APG for Ratiopharm Ulm. He projects as a potential lottery pick in this year’s draft, currently ranking 10th overall on ESPN’s big board.
As ESPN’s Mike Schmitz notes in his scouting report, Hayes isn’t the most athletic player in this year’s draft pool and needs to get more comfortable with his right hand, but he’s an effective pick-and-roll player with a strong 6’5″ frame and could have an instant impact in the NBA, given his professional experience.