And so....it begins! NBA Season Restarts! July 30th - October 12th.

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

 

 

 

 

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

[JayBirdHawk]

Schlenk Radio interview:

1st part focuses on Last Dance. Listen from 5:30 for Hawks info, mostly related to reopening practice facility.

https://929thegame.radio.com/media/audio-channel/travis-schlenk-with-john-and-hugh-15

[AHF]

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Dr. Anthony Fauci, the White House Coronavirus Task Force’s top public health expert, said in an interview with The New York Times on Tuesday that some sports might have to skip the rest of their seasons if the conditions remain dangerous:

“Safety, for the players and for the fans, trumps everything,” he said. “If you can’t guarantee safety, then unfortunately you’re going to have to bite the bullet and say, ‘We may have to go without this sport for this season.’”

Fauci reportedly said that the key factor in whether or not sports leagues can return to action is how quickly the U.S. can gain broad access to tests with quick results.

Until the day comes that there are enough tests out there for leagues to use them without taking them out of the hands of those who need them for purposes more important than sporting events, it seems unlikely any major leagues’ plans to hold a season will get off the ground.

Per the Times, Fauci said any return to action would have to happen gradually, with authorities prepared to step in if the number of coronavirus cases begin to grow again:

“I would love to be able to have all sports back,” Dr. Fauci said. “But as a health official and a physician and a scientist, I have to say, right now, when you look at the country, we’re not ready for that yet.”

Among the top leagues, the NBA and NHL have both paused seasons that were already in progress, while MLB has indefinitely postponed the beginning of a 2020 season initially scheduled to begin in late March. The NFL, having wrapped up its season in February, has until early September before games are scheduled to begin, but will need to make a decision on postponing its season long before that.

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/dr-anthony-fauci-sports-leagues-skip-season-coronavirus-pandemic-052105349.html

[JayBirdHawk]

 

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NBA team executives and players’ agents spoke to CNBC in recent weeks about the challenges in resuming play. They said team owners are concerned with liability issues and are conflicted about whether or not to give up on the current season. The individuals spoke on condition of anonymity as they aren’t authorized to discuss league matters publicly. 

 

Then, there's this:

 

 

[macdaddy]

i think only Lebron wants to continue the season.

[AHF]

The Lakers should be one of the best positioned teams coming out of a long layoff.  The team is driven by two superstars and as long as they are clicking they will be at 95% of form even if the team as a whole is sloppy and not yet dialed into schemes on O and D.  A team like the 2014-15 Hawks would be hurt the most where the team relies on crisp execution and coordination between all the players on the floor to be effective.

[bleachkit]

56 minutes ago, macdaddy said:

i think only Lebron wants to continue the season.

No, many players want to return. Especially those on winning teams. Golden State has checked out, but most of the winning teams are looking forward to returning.

[JayBirdHawk]

“What [owners] are saying is, ’If we return, where is the revenue that is going to justify the additional cost of returning?” one team executive said. “They are looking at the cost side versus the revenue side. What revenue comes in now?” Also, NBA clubs have many limited partners who are taking losses. “These owners aren’t just sitting there with an ATM that’s printing more than ever before,” said Andy Dolich, the Memphis Grizzlies former president of business operations. “Some of them are looking at vast losses outside of just their basketball team.”

– via Jabari Young @ CNBC

 

 

Despite all the signals that it will be nearly impossible to rescue the rest of the NBA season, a league spokesperson told CNBC the league is still working on plans to resume. “It is the responsibility of the league office to explore all options for a return to play this season,” the spokesperson told CNBC in a statement. “We owe that to our fans, teams, players, partners and all who love the game. While our top priority remains everyone’s health and well-being, we continue to evaluate all options to finish this season. At the same time, we are intensely focused on addressing the potential impact of Covid-19 on the 2020-21 season.”

– via Jabari Young @ CNBC

 

 

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

[bleachkit]

11 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

“What [owners] are saying is, ’If we return, where is the revenue that is going to justify the additional cost of returning?” one team executive said. “They are looking at the cost side versus the revenue side. What revenue comes in now?” Also, NBA clubs have many limited partners who are taking losses. “These owners aren’t just sitting there with an ATM that’s printing more than ever before,” said Andy Dolich, the Memphis Grizzlies former president of business operations. “Some of them are looking at vast losses outside of just their basketball team.”

– via Jabari Young @ CNBC

 

 

Despite all the signals that it will be nearly impossible to rescue the rest of the NBA season, a league spokesperson told CNBC the league is still working on plans to resume. “It is the responsibility of the league office to explore all options for a return to play this season,” the spokesperson told CNBC in a statement. “We owe that to our fans, teams, players, partners and all who love the game. While our top priority remains everyone’s health and well-being, we continue to evaluate all options to finish this season. At the same time, we are intensely focused on addressing the potential impact of Covid-19 on the 2020-21 season.”

– via Jabari Young @ CNBC

 

 

The execs who want the season cancelled are probably all from non-playoff teams. 

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

[Spud2nique]

If I’m the Bucks Lakers or Clipps I’m mad. Nobody else really had a shot this year. 
 

ps Kerr is a choir boy . He says his scrubs checked out. Man I hate the scrubs. Not new!

[JayBirdHawk]

 

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As the NBA finalized with health agencies and experts on the precautions and processes needed for teams to reopen practice facilities in markets loosening stay-at-home restrictions, officials shared the broad strokes of a plan in a memo to about half the league's owners on Saturday afternoon. Within a few hours, ESPN reported the news. Almost immediately, the league office felt blowback from teams. General managers spent Saturday and Sunday on the phone with each other and the league, trying to understand the purpose, the timing, the safety issues -- as well as alternatives for teams outside of those selected markets.

By Monday, following further conversations with teams, the NBA had pushed the date to May 8 and furnished teams with a 16-page memo on procedures required to bring back players into facilities.

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Silver has publicly and privately insisted he couldn't abide his league gobbling up tests to resume a basketball season if the general public and medical professionals are without mass access to tests. Once the NBA shared its guidelines with teams on protocols for bringing players into the facility for workouts, it prohibited the use of tests on players unless they were showing Covid-19 symptoms, sources said.

From the reopening to the end of a resumed season, the NBA has an expectation that it will need in the neighborhood of 15,000 tests, sources said. Several manufacturers can assure the NBA those tests, but they can't guarantee the American public will have its needs met.

 

[JayBirdHawk]

Could the NBA return this season? What to know about the bubble concept.

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One of them is determining how long it would take for the league's players to get back into game shape. ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported Monday the league plans to reopen some of its facilities May 8, but a return to full NBA practices remains far away.

In a scenario where the NBA played eight games per day -- using two courts to host concurrent games akin to summer league -- the regular season could be completed in 33 days with almost no back-to-backs. A full four-round postseason, with minimal days off, would take a maximum of 55 days to complete.

An alternative framework could shorten this timeline and reduce the number of people needed to finish the season by skipping directly to the playoffs using the current standings. Bringing in 16 teams rather than 30 would cut the number of people in the bubble roughly in half and potentially cut time away from home by more than a month.

The lower number of people also would keep contact between different teams to a minimum -- something medical officials advise would be prudent, as it would further reduce the chance of proliferation in the event of an infection.

To reduce the probability of the virus being introduced and spread within the bubble, infectious disease experts said the NBA would have to operate with as few people as possible inside it. According to team and league personnel, referees, television producers and hotel general managers, that would amount to about 1,500 people being deemed as "essential" to restart the regular season.

Some of the work to determine essential personnel started weeks ago, as organizations braced for the likelihood of holding games without fans. In a memo to teams on March 7, the NBA said to "minimize the number of staff traveling with the team to essential individuals only."

This scenario would go even further. Consultation with head coaches and executives led to the reduction to 28 people per team: 15 active roster spots (excluding two-way players), the head coach, three assistant coaches, three trainers/physical therapists, a strength coach, an equipment manager, a team logistics coordinator, a front-office representative, a public-relations official and a security official. The typical team travel size ranges from 40 to 50 people, growing to 75 or more in the postseason.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/29120877/everything-need-know-how-nba-bubble-work

 

[Spud2nique]

We should cancel the season just to hear LeBron whine. 

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

[marco102]

I'm for cancelling the season and trying to figure something out for the playoffs.  

I'm really ready for the draft lottery and free agency.

[AHF]

23 hours ago, marco102 said:

I'm for cancelling the season and trying to figure something out for the playoffs.  

I'm really ready for the draft lottery and free agency.

Me too.  Can't help but think this season carries a huge asterisk under any situation because of the long break in play.  No point to any more regular season.  Just run the playoffs out and see what happens knowing the odds are huge that it won't play out the same way it would have had the season continued uninterrupted.  All the "safest" options are fairly intrusive on lifestyle even for those at low risk and much easier to sustain for 16 teams over a playoff run (where losers get to leave quarantine and go home to their families and leave the league dealing with fewer logistical challenges as it progresses) than 30 teams for a longer period of time.

[JayBirdHawk]

 

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Charania: The unknown is the same in the NBA. Dr. Anthony Fauci said it best weeks ago, and most around the NBA express the same every day: We don’t make the timetable, the virus does. Owners, executives, players and agents are hopeful the return process begins in mid-to-late June, resuming play in July and finishing in September.

Rosenthal: The problem, he said, is that we are getting inconsistent information, hearing different things from different people almost every day. Doctors say one thing. Politicians another. In fact, the MLB official said, “there is an extraordinary amount of politics involved.” Politics at the federal, state and county levels, politics even at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

With so many points of view, the information can be confusing. And it’s why the leagues need to proceed deliberately, gathering as much information as possible before acting.

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Charania: The NBA and commissioner Adam Silver have been at the forefront of our country’s response to the coronavirus, when the league shut down play when Utah’s Rudy Gobert tested positive on March 11. So health will be the ultimate priority. And, as you said, testing obviously will be so important to all of this. All three sports want to be able to gain tests without disrupting society’s ability, right?

Rosenthal: Yes, that is paramount. One reason I get occasionally pessimistic is due to the shortage of testing, and the seeming inability of the U.S. to catch up. CNN.com posted a story four days ago quoting the chief program officer for the Association of Public Health Laboratories as saying, we don’t have enough tests to meet the demand, and might never have enough. That opinion is not universal, but the shortage of testing is still a major issue, one that could pose trouble for the leagues.

On the other hand, if enough testing does become available, I’ve heard talk about baseball helping facilitate tests for the general public in states where games are played. The NBA could do that, too, providing a community service. I imagine both leagues will seek to provide various types of public support once games resume.