National Basketball Association commissioner Adam Silver spoke about the conversations he had with National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) about all the concerns that coaches, players, as well as other miscellaneous stuff, could have when the season resume on 30th July.
Post his discussion with NBPA he stated that it is not mandatory that all the players have to participate in the game when the season resume and if they don’t there will be no breach in their contract.
However Silver discusses the precautions that will be placed in Florida, as well as there will be a timeline for a quick turnaround to begin the 2020-21 season.
NBA has tried to make the resume season shortened one and seem valid for the record books and entertaining for the fan base. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver is facing the reality that the best-laid plans may not be good enough to convince all-stars to play when the season resume.
Silver said to the interview to ESPN Monday night where he stated: “Our conversations have been with the Players Association and their leadership over the past several months and we’ve worked through all those issues, in terms of health and safety, what the environment will be like for everyone,”.
He further added that “Look, it’s not an ideal situation. We’re trying to find our own normal in the middle of a pandemic, a recession, or worse … As we work through these issues I can understand why players feel it’s not for them and it could be for a host of reasons. It might be family reasons, health reasons or as some players have said recently, that their time is best spent elsewhere.”
He also concluded by stating “The Players Association represents 450 guys. For the 22 teams [going to Orlando when you include the two-way players, we’re talking about bringing 375 players down. Not surprisingly there’s not a uniform view among those players. My sense is we’re going to be able to work through those issues over the next few weeks.”.
The regular season was suspended by the NBA on immediate effect after the Utah Jazz centre Rudy Gobert was tested positive of Coronavirus. There is no denying that the coronavirus has worried players about infection as they are putting in a condensed schedule but the biggest issue right now for the league is social justice.
