With plans of reopening becoming more and more feasible within recent weeks, it appears as though the NBA and its fans will get their wish and see the 2019-20 regular season resume in some capacity.
So far, the league is looking into the best way to bring back basketball and the regular season, and the plan seems to be to move its operations to a bubble location like Walt Disney World where teams will get an opportunity to train and re-acclimate before going full tilt.
The NBA already sent a survey to all 30 general managers to gauge the best competitive formats to utilize and those results will influence further decisions.
In the two months since the season was put on hiatus, players have been subjected to at-home workouts with less than optimal equipment, so these recent developments must be a welcomed sigh of relief. According to Ramona Shelburne of ESPN, NBPA executive director Michele Roberts said there is no question that the players are ready to get back to playing:
In team-by-team virtual calls with players this week, National Basketball Players Association executive director Michele Roberts said the “overwhelming” sentiment has been that “they really want to play” and resume the 2019-20 NBA season, most likely in late July at Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports in Orlando, Florida. “It’s time. It’s time,” Roberts told ESPN.
“It’s been two and a half months of, ‘What if?’ My players need some level of certainty. I think everybody does.”
This comes as no surprise as they have been deprived of their passion and job for an unprecedented period of time and must be itching to return to the court. The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic remains an ongoing issue across the globe, but reopening is still in the best interest of everyone involved due to the competitive and financial implications.
LeBron James headlined a group of superstars who banded together in their desire to resume playing as soon as possible, and it appears they are one step closer to getting their wish now that some concrete details are being worked out.
Walt Disney World is the perfect site to host games because of its ability to provide the necessary space and resources, so hopefully a more formal decision is made soon. Regardless, the players will be forced to wait for the time being but at least the growing optimism is warranted this time around.
