Mark Cuban recently expressed optimism that the NBA could resume playing games as soon as mid-May or early-June, but the Dallas Mavericks owner no longer seems as optimistic.
In an appearance on ESPN’s “Get Up!” Wednesday morning, Cuban was asked for his thoughts on where things stand with the NBA in the wake of the news that the resumption of the Chinese Basketball Association has been delayed further. He said he has “no idea.”
Mark Cuban"We're going to put safety first, we're not going to do anything that risks the safety of our players, our fans, our staff..all the experts have got to say that it's going to be absolutely safe, we can't put anything ahead of the health & safety of our players and staff pic.twitter.com/ECujJfQ9da
— gifdsports (@gifdsports) April 1, 2020
“The only thing I know is we’re gonna put safety first and we’re not gonna take any chances,” Cuban said. “We’re not gonna do anything that risks the health and safety of our players, our fans, the staff and the organizations. Right now, I really just don’t have anything new to say.”
Cuban added that the NBA is committed to not resuming play until experts say it is “absolutely safe.” He also said no actual date to potentially return to play has been discussed among team owners and NBA executives.
The White House recently extended its “slow the spread” guidelines through April 30, and all of the projections for when the coronavirus outbreak might peak in the United States make it seem like we could still be months away from sports coming back. Major League Baseball is reportedly eyeing a specific date for the start of its season, but the coronavirus situation is evolving by the day. Sports leagues will simply remain in a holding pattern like the rest of the country until there is more clarity.
