As the United States continues to practice physical distancing to flatten the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic curve, the NBA has begun discussing potential solutions to finish the 2019-20 season.
The latest report indicates that the league is looking into the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida as a place to host the remainder of the season, allowing for all teams to be in one place as opposed to having to travel.
The Los Angeles Lakers are obviously one of the teams most invested in finishing the season, considering they are the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference and were playing their best basketball when everything was shut down.
There still are some hurdles that need to be crossed before the NBA can return, however, as the safety of the players and everyone involved is the No. 1 priority.
Because of that, there may be some serious restrictions in place whenever basketball resumes with some general managers throughout the league concerned about their older staff members, per Baxter Holmes of ESPN:
As the NBA seeks solutions to return to action during the coronavirus pandemic, teams are weighing scenarios for potential games with only essential personnel present. Perhaps a key factor in such decisions, beyond titles or responsibilities, is the health and age of those staffers themselves, NBA general managers told ESPN.
One potential solution would be to ban all staff members over the age of 60, regardless of their title, from attending wherever basketball is played:
The first general manager said these issues apply to staff beyond coaches. “I worry about those guys,” the general manager said. “That’s an exposure that I don’t think we can afford.”
“Based on all the information that we have today, probably people over 60 with preexisting conditions can’t go, for sure, no matter what their titles are,” the second general manager said. “Whether it’s a father of the star player or whether it’s the general manager of the team, they can’t go there.”
Lakers assistant coach Lionel Hollins is 66 years of age and senior basketball advisor Kurt Rambis is 62, so they would be the most affected by these restrictions in the organization if they were to be put in place.
While not having key members of the coaching staff and front office wouldn’t be ideal for the Lakers, or any other team, it may be what is necessary to ensure the health of all parties involved.