Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NBA season has been on hold since March 11. Since the announcement was made to suspend the season, hundreds of fans and media members have made their opinions well known on which route they believe the league should follow. Suggestions range from playing with no fans or playing on isolated cruise ships; some people want the league to cancel the season altogether.
Canceling the whole season is the least interesting route for basketball fans but is an opinion shared by one of the most respected voices in basketball, Shaquille O’Neal.
In an interview with For The Win, when asked whether or not the league should finish its season, O’Neal said, “I think we should scrap the season. Everybody go home, get healthy, come back next year. Just scrap the season. Just scrap it. To try and come back now and do a rush playoffs as a player? Any team that wins this year, there’s an asterisk. They’re not going to get the respect. What if a team that’s not really in the mix of things all of a sudden wins with a new playoff format? Nobody is going to respect that. So, scrap it. Worry about the safety of the fans and the people. Come back next year.”
This is somewhat of a surpising response from O’Neal, who is often outspoken on how competitive he was and still is.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver recently held a virtual meeting with NBA players in which he discussed how he was hopeful for a return of the season. Silver even suggested playing in a limited number of cities to cut down on traveling.
Although Silver and O’Neal are on separate pages with their opinions, it is pleasing to see that the league is exploring all options.
