When the NBA shut down, along with the rest of the sports world, many questioned whether we’d actually see the NBA back in action. And while I still question whether such a return to play is possible, the NBA certainly seems to think so.
In fact, the NBA recently announced a plan to return to the court and finish the 2019-2020 season, stating that the Association has not considered cancelling the season, reiterating the suspension of play was simply that, a suspension. How that will happen, or what the league will look like in that return is unknown at this time.
What we are sure of is that the league is struggling financially. You may remember just a few years ago, as many as 14 franchises were said to have lost money, for the non-math majors among us, that’s nearly half the league. Granted the Lakers and the Celtics are rolling in dough, but much like Major League Baseball, it’s the small market teams that struggle to remain competitive as large market teams hoard cash and talent to remain more competitive, even in down years. The NFL for its part has used the salary cap in a much more efficient way to spread those labor costs and the broadcast money coming amongst these teams with traditionally smaller fanbases and therefore possible revenue sources, though small market teams like the Green Bay Packers have national fanbases.
But the NBA has no such parity. There are no Bucks fans outside of Milwaukee, no Thunder fans outside OKC. If you do happen to be in Nashville and see someone rocking a Bucks jersey, dollars to donuts, it’s a Giannis fan, meaning a fan of the player, not the team. Silver, who spoke to reporters on a conference call following the NBA’s board of governors discussion last Friday, said the league hasn’t considered canceling the remainder of the year, as it looks to salvage some of its lost revenue due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Commissioner Adam Silver stated in a conference call, “Our revenue, in essence, has dropped to zero. That’s having a huge financial impact on the team business and the arena business.”
So it was rather big news just this week, the NBA announced they would be delaying opening team facilities in preparation of continuing the current season. Considering these economic pressures, it seems as if the NBA is taking a rather strong stance on valuing player safety, a refreshing change from what we have seen from other institutions and entities. They could simply ignore the experts and pretend everything is back to normal, I mean, they have bills to pay right? Restaurants and bars are opening, why not the NBA?
Do I selfishly hope NBA basketball returns sometime soon? Absolutely. Do I want that to happen at players’ expense? Absolutely not. If the NBA were to do so, I would be first in line with a quickly written blog criticizing them for doing so.
But if the owners are dedicated to returning to play without sacrificing games, that means the 2020-2021 regular season is most assuredly pushed back as well, leaving in doubt an 82-game season to follow, what with the Summer Olympics in Tokyo postponed to next summer as well.
Whatever the league does decide to do, let’s hope they keep player safety and health at the forefront, and if they don’t, we as fans and the media must make sure we hold them accountable.