NBA has been out front on coronavirus, but future remains unclear

There was Commissioner Adam Silver, sitting in a mostly empty studio Wednesday, answering questions about the new NBA, one in which the league could crown a champion in August in an empty arena and could have its schedule severely altered because of the coronavirus. Photo: AP Photo/David Banks

There was Commissioner Adam Silver, sitting in a mostly empty studio Wednesday, answering questions about the new NBA, one in which the league could crown a champion in August in an empty arena and could have its schedule severely altered because of the coronavirus. Photo: AP Photo/David Banks

Published Mar 19, 2020

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LOS ANGELES – There was Commissioner Adam Silver, sitting

in a mostly empty studio Wednesday, answering questions about the new

NBA, one in which the league could crown a champion in August in an

empty arena and could have its schedule severely altered because of

the coronavirus.

Eight days earlier, there was Brooklyn Nets coach Jacque Vaughn,

sitting in an auxiliary dressing room at Staples Center in Los

Angeles, wondering what the NBA might end up looking like if fans

were kept out of arenas and musing about the subtle changes to life

in the league during a pandemic.

The Nets were scheduled to move through several coronavirus hot zones

- Los Angeles, Sacramento, L.A. again, and San Francisco. The best

defence, they thought, was increased hand washing.

"Think how much has changed in just a week," Silver said.

If social distancing, curbside takeout, daily presidential news

conferences and positive Covid-19 tests weren't enough reminder, here

was the NBA commissioner, an optimist, unable to give a clear answer

on when the league could return.

"I honestly don't know," he said frankly.

That was one of the messages Silver tried to convey during his

interview with ESPN's Rachel Nichols, his second public comments

since the suspension of the season last week.

"I'm optimistic by nature and I want to believe that we're going to

be able to salvage at least some portions of this season," Silver

said.

"I would say we have done new and creative things in the past, we

experimented with this year's All-Star game with a unique ending.

We've talked about play-in tournaments for going into the playoffs.

There may be other things we can do with the format.

"... We're gonna try by every means we can to play basketball again,

but I say that the safety and health of our players is first, and our

fans, which is why I don't want to speculate more on that. That will

be the condition upon which we can play: When public health officials

give us the OK."

Silver said he wanted the NBA - the first national entity to pull the

emergency brake because of the coronavirus outbreak - to be one of

the leaders in kick-starting the battered economy.

That means the league is exploring ways to return to action in three

ways, Silver said. The first, and the most preferred option, would be

a return to normalcy, games played in arenas full of fans.

A second option, Silver said, would be a return to games without fans

in attendance - which the league was bracing for before Utah Jazz

center Rudy Gobert tested positive March 11. While there could be

rules against gatherings of a certain size - it'd be impossible to

put on a NBA game with fewer than 50 people inside under current

protocols - the league has floated ideas for ways it could work,

primarily limiting assistant coaches, while having off-site

broadcasters and using remote cameras.

Silver floated a third option for the meantime: some type of charity

game where a group of players could compete if there were

circumstances that could guarantee their health and safety, whether

it be testing or quarantine or isolation.

"People are stuck at home," Silver said. "They need a diversion. They

need to be entertained."

Geoffrey Dreher, a primary care sports medicine physician and

assistant professor of orthopaedic surgery at Johns Hopkins

University, praised the NBA's quick action last week.

"I think it was impressive," said Dreher, who also serves as a team

physician for Johns Hopkins athletes. "The quick decision-making they

did after that first diagnosis, looking in hindsight I think it was

the right decision and was a tipping point especially in the public

eye to kind of pandemic that's going on and the severity that

athletes, the sports world, as well as the general population, should

be more aware of this."

The social impact has been part of the league's defence for players

and teams getting tested at a time of shortage, with critics accusing

NBA teams and players of cutting in line. Silver said eight full

teams underwent testing for COVID-19, including an unknown number of

players who have exhibited symptoms.

Silver, who hasn't taken a test for the coronavirus, said none of the

seven known cases in the league are serious, with two of the players

suffering from "mild" symptoms.

When pressed about the testing Wednesday, Silver again pointed to the

positive impact Gobert's test had in sobering society to the

realities of the virus.

"I understand there are many sides to these issues," Silver said.

"But I also think that by virtue of an NBA player being tested and

the kind of attention it brought, my sense was - especially among

young people in the United States - people were not taking these

protocols all that seriously until the NBA did what it did."

Now that so much of society has ground to a halt, Silver said the NBA

has the responsibility to be a part of the restart.

"I've heard from several of our teams and something I've been

thinking about a lot is to the extent we were the first to shut our

league down, in what ways can we be the first movers to help restart

the economy," he said.

That happens on the court, including games getting pushed up against

the start of the NFL season. It's all on the table, he said,

including looking to start the 2020-21 season in December, redefining

the idea of when "basketball season" is played. The major drawback is

the notion that ratings are softer in the summer when people watch

less television and the NBA Finals conclude.

There might be tougher decisions to make - the toughest a possible

full-on cancellation and fallout from an empty season.

"I'm not there yet," he said. "We'll figure it out, but I hope I'm

not just in denial."

dpa

Related Topics:

coronavirus