The NBA and other sports leagues continue to closely monitor the coronavirus pandemic in order to gather more information on when they might be able to resume or begin play, and it sounds like far from a sure thing that we will see basketball again this season.
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said Monday that NBA team owners and executives are no longer optimistic about being able to resume the 2019-2020 season. Owners and players have been discussing the financial ramifications of a lost season rather than talking about starting back up.
"The pessimism is really growing."@WindhorstESPN on the chance that the NBA will be able to salvage this current season. pic.twitter.com/BGCNlNYCRZ
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) April 6, 2020
Many U.S. states have stay-at-home orders in place that are not currently scheduled to expire until May. Virginia has extended its stay-at-home order through June 10, so that gives you an idea of how long officials expect the coronavirus pandemic to linger. The situation continues to evolve by the day, but it doesn’t seem like sports leagues are anywhere close to being given the all-clear that NBA commissioner Adam Silver said will be necessary to resume play.
President Donald Trump has made it known that he wants sports to return as quickly as possible, but that simply may not be realistic for the NBA at this point. Unless the league is prepared to permanently alter its schedule, the end of the current NBA season could run too close to the scheduled start of the 2020-21 season.
