Faced with another crisis, a practically ideal NBA return plan / News

Photo: USA Today, Reuters – Scanpix / BasketNews.lt illustration

The National Basketball Association (NBA) has been like a roller coaster at Walt Disney Theme Park in recent weeks.

The optimistic days about a possible resumption of the season were changed by the days when there was a debate that it might not be possible to put basketball players back on the floor.

However, on Thursday, the NBA officially confirmed that 2019-2020. The season will be extended. 22 teams will be playing on the parquet in the Disney theme park arena on July 31.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, who is facing an emergency for the first time, should have the highest credit for the implementation. Since February 2014, the NBA Silver Commissioner has had nearly three serious challenges, two of them this season.

Recall that as soon as he sat in David Stern’s chair, Silver had to put out a fire in Los Angeles when former Clippers owner Donald Sterling was embroiled in a racist scandal. Despite just a good month as a commissioner, Silver cracked down, forcing Sterling to sell the Clippers club and banning him from participating in NBA-related activities for the rest of his life.

At that time last fall, Darryl Morey, general manager of the Houston Rockets, challenged the NBA conflict with China after publicly expressing his support for the Hong Kong protesters.

While Steve Kerr could barely make a sentence on the subject, LeBron James, without great curtains, expressed that Morey had to remain silent, Silver maneuvered his words like a skier on a slalom track and tried to stay as neutral as possible. Of course, the NBA did not escape financial loss, but it seems that the complete depletion of the bridges was avoided.

As for the extension of this season, Silver had to cater to the whims of almost every team in the league, and the NBA commissioner succeeded in both. This is due to the results of the vote on the theme of the resumption of the season: 29 team owners voted for the format proposed by Silver.

The “BasketNews.lt” website offers an overview of the format of the renewed season and delves into why it is one of the best possible solutions.

A fair format for all parties.

As negotiations began for a possible resumption of the season, different teams had different whims. Title contenders, like the Lakers, Bucks, or Clippers, initially wanted to play a few games before the playoffs to give players at least some idea of ​​the pace of the game.

At the time, the teams next to the playoffs wanted a chance to connect for the first eight. Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard has even publicly stated that if his team doesn’t expect to fight for a playoff spot, he won’t step on the floor.

The format adopted by the NBA will listen to both parties. The 8 games of the regular season will allow the favorites to heat up, and teams like the Washington Wizards, Phoenix Suns, Sacramento Kings, San Antonio Spurs, New Orleans Pelicans and Portland Trail Blazers to fight for a playoff spot.

If the team in eighth place breaks with more than 4 wins, it will maintain its position.

However, if this distance is less than 4 wins, the eighth and ninth place teams will be in last place in the playoffs. It is true that the ninth place team will have to win two games, while the eighth place club will have only one.

The Wizards currently have 5.5 wins behind the Magic in eighth place (meaning they have six fewer wins but played fewer games) and the Brooklyn Nets are six places behind.

In the West, the situation is much more persistent. The Memphis Grizzlies vs. Trail Blazers, Pelicans and Kings lead with 3.5 wins (four more wins but played more games or three more wins but played fewer games) against Spurs – four and soles six.

Therefore, teams below eighth will have every opportunity to advance to the playoffs, but the eighth-place team will also have the minimal advantage they managed to accumulate during the first 65 games of the regular season.

Even for teams that have practically secured a playoff spot, such as the Miami Heat, Indiana Pacers, Philadelphia 76ers, Utah Jazz, Oklahoma Thunder, Houston Rockets or the Dallas Mavericks, these 8 regular season games will be meaningless.

A series of defeats can bring down any team and reunite them with a potentially stronger opponent.

After all, the traditional traditional repeat format also has its advantages. The NBA champion will present himself in the usual way, avoiding more complicated variations such as the World Cup teams stage, etc.

Financial aspect

8 regular season games in the NBA will allow you to score another important goal: 22 teams will exceed the limit of 70 regular season games. This will allow regional television to meet its commitments.

According to Sam Amick of The Athletic, Spectrum SportsNet TV costs the Lakers about $ 1.5 million per meeting. AMERICAN DOLLAR. Admittedly, it’s worth noting that the Los Angeles club has one of the most lucrative regional television offerings, totaling around $ 5 billion. Dollars

For comparison, Amick provided another example. According to one of the lowest regional TV broadcast contracts, an unidentified team wins around 200,000 from one of the matches shown. Dollars

It was previously reported that in the worst case scenario the season would not be extended, the NBA would have lost $ 900 million. dollars from national television for breach of the playoffs.

Admittedly, even fulfilled television broadcast commitments will significantly reduce NBA basketball-related revenue.

NBA salary cap and finance expert Albert Nahmad predicts the league will lose about 1-1.2 billion. Income in USD. This amount includes the loss of revenue from games fans will not be able to attend and the consequences of the conflict with China. Previously, Silver mentioned that a dispute with an Asian giant league could be divided between 150 and 200 million. AMERICAN DOLLAR.

A season ago, the NBA predicted it would raise more than $ 8 billion. dollars, basketball-related earnings that directly affect the size of the salary cap.

Sure, the losses are still huge, but the relaunch of the season has allowed the league to cut them in half virtually.

It is also estimated that if the NBA had chosen to go straight to the playoffs with 16 teams, basketball players would have faced the staggering 645 million. The amount of wages lost in dollars. Additional regular season games will reduce this amount to $ 300 million. Dollars

It is worth remembering that players currently get 25 percent off. lower wages. With the cancellation of all remaining meetings of the regular season, that number could rise to 40 percent.

Why will the match only be played after two months?

Knowing that the decision to resume the season has already been made officially, it may turn out that July 31 is too far. However, such a decision can be explained by several factors.

Following the example of the Dallas Mavericks team, Luka Dončičius had returned to her native Slovenia during the pandemic, and Kristaps Porzingis went to Latvia. There is no doubt that there are neither one nor two similar examples.

Other basketball players, such as Domantas Sabonis, left their team states and temporarily moved to another residence.

Therefore, gathering all basketball players in the respective cities of the team takes time, and Dončičius along with Porzing will be forced to spend 14 days in self-isolation.

According to Shams Charania, the clubs will begin training camps in their cities on June 30 and continue from July 7 at the Walt Disney theme park sports complex.

Knowing how important fitness is and knowing how the NBA cares about the opinion of basketball players, that move also seems logical. Especially since it is the NBA that dictates the calendar of the rest of the basketball world, so aligning with the Euroleague and the international basketball calendar is the least headache for NBA executives.

There are no limits to perfection.

Of course, there are no gaps and some shortcomings, even in this season’s upgrade plan. This is also shown in the vote: the only club that opposed such a plan was Trail Blazers. While on the one hand, such a position for the Portland team is surprising, such a decision by the club is understandable.

The Blazers are said to have wanted 20 instead of the 22-team format, but it can also be assumed that this ties in with the rest of the regular season schedule.

The schedule for the remainder of the regular season has yet to be announced, but according to Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports, the team’s schedule will remain the same as before the season ended.

The only difference will be that if teams that continue the season on a regular schedule play against teams that have already finished the season (for example, the Chicago Bulls, Golden State Warriors, etc.), they will scroll the calendar until they find a team. located in the Walt Disney amusement park.

That’s where the problem arises, that the Blazers probably don’t like. According to the usual schedule, the Grizzlies team had the most statistically difficult schedule left in the entire league. At the time, the Portland team was 21 in the league and the Pelicans 30 in the league, meaning the New Orleans club had the easiest remaining schedule in the entire NBA.

Under this system, the Blazers lost duels with teams like the Timberwolves, Hornets, Pistons, Cavaliers, or Golden State Warriors. The Portland team will now have to end the regular season with games against the Grizzlies (played twice), the Rockets, the Mavericks, the Celtics, the 76ers, the Nets and the Jazz.

At the time, the Pelicans had two more games with the Hawks and Wizards on a regular schedule, and one with the Knicks and Hornets. Instead, Zion will have to fight twice with Kings and Grizzlies and once with Jazz, Clippers, Spurs and Magic.

Is there injustice in this situation? Of course, in these unprecedented times, it is probably not even possible to seek unprecedented solutions and satisfy the wishes of absolutely everyone.

Another aspect worth discussing is the fate of the teams that did not make it to Orlando. With the season halted on March 12, the Charlotte Hornets, Chicago Bulls, New York Knicks, Detroit Pistons, Atlanta Hawks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Minnesota Timberwolves and Warriors will most likely “Basketball players will return to the field only after a 9-month break.

Again, this is an unprecedented break in basketball at this level. Knowing that most of these teams are made up of teams dominated by young basketball players, there is no doubt that such circumstances are not pleasant for club leaders.

However, bringing all 30 teams to the Disney theme park would only increase the risk of spreading the virus, and these listed teams would not have reached great heights this season. Therefore, everyone has to grit their teeth and accept the current situation.

The excellent work of the NBA is also illustrated by the situation in other major sports leagues in the United States. The NHL hesitantly hints at a possible resumption of the season, but has not yet shared specific return dates. MLB fans these days are hoping for 2020. The season would happen overall, and the NFL has the luxury of not rushing, as the regular start to the regular season is slated for September 10.

On July 31, everyone will turn their attention to the NBA, where they will see how the organization led by Silver handles these unprecedented times, but the return plan prepared by the NBA commissioner and close contact with players, club managers and owners is optimistic.