With the NBA currently on hiatus due to the coronavirus, they are focusing on determining when conditions will be safe to resume play and when that occurs, what it will look like.
With a number of games lost already and no clear end in sight, can they still squeeze in a full 82-game season? It wouldn’t appear likely.
If that’s the case, what can be done to give fans the kind of exciting conclusion to the season that they are waiting for while also recouping some of the massive financial losses that occurred as a result of the hiatus?
On this episode of the Lakers Nation Podcast, we discuss a reported plan that would see the NBA finish out the 2019-20 season with all games being held in Las Vegas and a tournament taking place that would combine with the more-standard format to create a shortened, albeit exciting, playoffs.
For Los Angeles Lakers fans, however, is a single-elimination tournament really what they want to see? While it would offer plenty of thrills as the team heading into the playoffs sitting in first place in the Western Conference, the Lakers wouldn’t benefit from a scenario where a single loss could send them home.
That said, there is still time for plenty of ideas to be kicked around, and the NBA will certainly exhaust all options as they hope to get teams back on the court as soon as it is safe to do so.
Furthermore, Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer is purchasing The Forum, which housed the Lakers during their glorious ‘Showtime’ years. Should fans of the purple and gold feel slighted by Ballmer’s purchase? Having the hallowed ground of The Forum in the hands of the Clippers is uncomfortable at best, though Ballmer does intend to leave the building as a music venue while creating a new arena for them nearby.
So is that a positive that the Clippers are one step closer from being out of the Staples Center or is it disappointing for a Lakers landmark to be under Ballmer’s ownership?
Plus, we take plenty of questions from fans, which leads us into a discussion about the NBA’s salary cap and what will need to be done in order to manage the inevitable drop as a result of the league’s hiatus. All of that and a ton more on a fun show during a difficult time.
