Thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, there have been no sports for almost two months. However, NASCAR has announced that it will resume its season in mid-May.
The question now is what sport will be next to return?
The NBA was the first sports league to suspend its season due to the coronavirus. But with the country in quarantine and practicing social distancing, should the NBA ever resume its season?
If the NBA season does resume, should the regular season continue or should they just go to the playoffs? Team executives and player agents have asked that the rest of the season be canceled. Team owners are concerned about liability issues and where their revenue would come from if the season resumed.
NBA presidents met on Thursday and seem to have the intention of resuming the season.
“Every intention is to return to play and try to create the best environment we can for the league and for the fans,” San Antonio Spurs CEO R.C. Buford said. “And we’re all on board for that.”
The NBA is still looking at resuming the season while some teams could reopen their practice facilities as early as May 8.
“It is the responsibility of the league office to explore all options for a return to play this season,” a league spokesperson said in a statement. “We owe that to our fans, teams, players, partners and all who love the game. While our top priority remains everyone’s health and well-being, we continue to evaluate all options to finish this season. At the same time, we are intensely focused on addressing the potential impact of Covid-19 on the 2020-21 season.”
LeBron James tweeted on Thursday that nobody should be cancelling anything.
Saw some reports about execs and agents wanting to cancel season??? That’s absolutely not true. Nobody I know saying anything like that. As soon as it’s safe we would like to finish our season. I’m ready and our team is ready. Nobody should be canceling anything. 👑
— LeBron James (@KingJames) April 30, 2020
If the season does resume, the league could be going to Disney. The NBA is considering using Disney World Resort as a site for games if the season resumes, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic. Las Vegas had been considered a couple of weeks ago.
Our Insider @ShamsCharania reports on the NBA considering Disney World Resort as a potential return playing site and the latest discussions around coronavirus. pic.twitter.com/BUNNSFdKmA
— Stadium (@Stadium) April 29, 2020
While Disney would work as a site for games, the NBA should cancel the rest of the season. It’s not worth risking people’s health just so the season can continue. What would happen if a player or coach tested positive for the virus? The risks are greater than the reward for the season to continue.
In an interview with the New York Times this week, Dr. Anthony Fauci said that he thinks that most sports won’t be able to return this year.
“If you can’t guarantee safety, then, unfortunately, you’re going to have to bite the bullet and say, ‘We may have to go without this sport for this season,’” Fauci said.
Even if the season did resume, there would probably be no fans and it would be hard for teams to get revenue. The NBA shouldn’t resume the season because of the health risks and there is no upside or benefit in resuming the season.
