As the days go by and more information continues to come out about the dangers of the coronavirus, questions about whether the NBA will be able to return become more serious.
Until the virus is contained and it becomes safe for large gatherings, the NBA and all other sports leagues will remain shut down.
There have already been numerous cases of the coronavirus within the NBA, and now the Los Angeles Lakers themselves have two players who tested positive. But even if the NBA does decide to finish the season, how they will do so is another question.
The league understands the difficulties involved and according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, they are exploring every possible option in how to best do so:
The NBA has been considering numerous contingency plans, which include playing only several more regular-season games and shortening early playoff series from best-of-seven to best-of-five, but everything remains fluid, sources said.
While the league is still working through multiple contingency plans, the teams are still waiting for any possible dates about a return:
Teams are hoping the league will soon give direction on possible drop-dead dates for starting the season, but the NBA doesn’t seem to be rushing to lock itself into a scenario. NBA owners are awaiting the league’s financial projections on lost revenues, which are expected to be shared with them soon, sources said.
It is great to see the NBA is continuing to work hard in trying to figure out possible plans to finish out this season. That being said, there are so many things that go into completing the season that the odds of it happening seem to dwindle by the day.
Things such as playing just a few regular season games or even going straight to the playoffs are definite possibilities, but even that would have its issues. Teams would need time to come back together and practice, not to mention just the ability to ensure the dates on the necessary arenas to go through the playoffs is no guarantee as they host many other events throughout the year that normally wouldn’t cross with basketball.
Additionally, as things get pushed back further, the next season will then be affected as the NBA would still have to make time for things such as the NBA Draft and free agency. What the NBA ultimately decides to do will be interesting to watch, but there is no doubt that commissioner Adam Silver and the rest of the league will exhaust all options.
