NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said on Tuesday that more COVID-19 cases will lead to the shutdown of resume NBA season which is scheduled for 30th July in Orlando.
Silver said he still expects some players who will come to Florida for the season restart still test positive for coronavirus, especially after coming from their respective home markets.
Silver also asserted that fresh outbreaks, especially after players complete the self-isolation procedure could be more fatal despite so many arrangements done by the league.
“Certainly, if we had any sort of a significant spread at all within our campus, we would be shut down again,” Silver said during the Fortune’s virtual Brainstorm Health conference.
“It would be concerning if once (the players) sit through our quarantine period, and then were to test positive, we would know that, in essence, there’s a hole in our bubble.” He added.
The NBA halted the season on March 11th after Utah Jazz centre Rudy Gobert had tested positive for the deadly virus. But after so many rumours and arrangements, the season is all set to resume on July 30th with 22 teams participating at Walt Disney World resort in Orlando.
Coronavirus testing and contact tracing will be in place, which Silver hopes will make the campus safe for players and NBA officials despite an increase in numbers of COVID-19 cases in Florida.
“We can analyze the virus itself and try to track whether, if there’s more than one case, if it’s, in essence, the same virus, the same genetic variation of the virus that has passed from one player to another,” Silver said.
