The NHL made the decision on Monday to pause its season with COVID-19 cases on the rise, and many are wondering if other professional sports leagues will follow suit. The NBA will not.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver told ESPN’s Malika Andrews on Tuesday that the NBA has no plans to halt its season. He said he doesn’t understand the logic behind a pause because the COVID virus “will not be eradicated and we’re going to have to learn to live with it.”
“No plans right now to pause the season. We’ve, of course, looked at all the options, but frankly we’re having trouble coming up with what the logic would be behind pausing right now.”
—Adam Silver on the state of the NBA at this moment. pic.twitter.com/wCBubqfw09
— ESPN (@espn) December 21, 2021
Silver said he is confident continuing with the 2021-22 season is the “right and responsible thing to do.” He also mentioned that the NBA is looking into the possibility of shortening the quarantine period — which is currently 10 days — for vaccinated individuals. He cited the fact that many vaccinated players who become infected are asymptomatic and less likely to spread the virus.
Adam Silver said on ESPN the NBA is actively looking at shortening 10-day protocol mandate for vaccinated-and-boosted individuals
“It seems that the virus runs through their systems faster. They become, not just asymptomatic, but more importantly they’re not shedding the virus.”
— Rob Schaefer (@rob_schaef) December 21, 2021
It sounds like the NBA will take a similar approach to the NFL. Postponing games will continue to be an option, but neither league is going to place its season on hold like the NHL. The NFL made a major change to its COVID testing policy over the weekend, and it’s possible the NBA could do something similar.
Photo: Dennis Weirzbicki-USA TODAY Sports
