Report: Small-market NBA teams concerned about being left out of return to play

The NBA appears to be leaning toward resuming the season without all 30 teams, and that is apparently a big concern for some of the organizations that are operating in small markets.

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Zach Lowe, small-market NBA teams are concerned that not playing any games until next season would have a major impact on their ability to develop players, land sponsorship deals and sell tickets. During NBA commissioner Adam Silver’s conference call with the Board of Governor’s on Friday, Oklahoma City Thunder owner Clay Bennett delivered an emotional speech about the league needing to find ways to help smaller market teams that may be left out of the resumption and thus go nine months — March to December — without any competitive games.

Wojnarowski and Lowe report that one idea being discussed is to hold mandatory summer training camps and regional fall leagues featuring four or five teams that could bridge the gap between this season and next.

“The message was something bigger, reminding people that some teams can’t just re-open the doors in nine of 10 months and so easily sell tickets or a sponsorship without having played basketball for that long,” one Eastern Conference told ESPN.

The NBA is currently working on a format that would feature 22 teams and potential play-in tournaments for both conferences to determine which 16 teams reach the postseason. One other possibility that was discussed was having all 30 teams play a handful more games. Atlanta Hawks owner Tony Ressler and Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob, whose teams are nowhere near playoff contention, said they would support returning to play games without a postseason spot on the line. Others, however, see no sense risking injury and potential exposure to COVID-19 just to play meaningless games.

As for why the NBA doesn’t go straight to a 16-team playoff rather than involving 22 teams, sources told ESPN that including the six extra teams will be worth several hundred million more dollars in revenue to the league.

We know Charlotte Hornets owner Michael Jordan does not want to see teams playing meaningless games, and one star player already said he will refuse to play if the NBA doesn’t give his team a fair shot to make the playoffs.