SALT LAKE CITY — On a Tuesday night conference call with the NBA board of governors, commissioner Adam Silver reportedly discussed a number of topics regarding a return to play and a timetable for making that decision.
While momentum seems to be growing for the NBA to find a way to crown a 2020 champion, there are opposing views and concerns over risk factors that could derail Silver’s hope to make a decision in the next two to four weeks.
Some of the league’s biggest stars came together on a private conference call on Monday night and agreed that the NBA should resume games if safe. The star-studded chat, arranged by National Basketball Players Association President Chris Paul, included LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kawhi Leonard, Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook and Damian Lillard.
While that united front of the NBA’s most notable players will carry weight in the conversations to come, there are still many who are worried about the fact that the NBA is considering resuming games before a COVID-19 vaccine is available.
Much of Silver’s Tuesday conversation with the board of governors seemed to center around the idea of getting players comfortable with the idea that a positive coronavirus test within a bubble city — or as Silver said, a “campus environment” — would not shut down play.
The NBA is hoping that upon resuming games they will be able to provide regular, daily, standardized testing for the virus. With Silver’s proposed campus environment, players and staff would be allowed to move freely outside the bubble and be subject to testing when they reenter.
While the idea of regular testing does provide a feeling of precaution and safety, the risk factors are increased for those who would leave the isolated bubble, and false negatives from rapid testing has raised questions.
As recently as Friday, Silver was peppered with questions from NBA players on a conference call regarding pressure to work out at practice facilities and health concerns. Those concerns and the pressure to play will be much greater when games are being played and it’s not just voluntary individual workouts.
Both Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal have said they think the NBA season should be canceled, a sentiment that has been shared by executives, agents and players.
On Friday’s call with players, Silver said, “No decision we make will be risk-free.” That’s the crux of what the NBA faces over the next few weeks as it attempts to come to a final agreement on the situation.
There will undoubtedly be risks, it’s just a question of how much risk the NBA is willing to take.