But really, it’s about the money. Their always about money.
This solution is unfair to the Lakers, a team with many veterans that will have six weeks off before training camps open in early December. (I’d say it was unfair to the Heat, but Miami strikes me as the kind of team that had mini-camps before Halloween.) The Lakers spent 3 and a half months locked in the NBA bubble. It was stressful, both on and off the court. They deserve a longer break.
But this is not about the Lakers. Or the Heat. Or the Celtics or the Nuggets, whose seasons ended in late September. For many teams, this offseason has been endlessly long. Eight teams have been out since March. Six others saw their seasons end at the end of July. Eight more were made in early September. The Lakers are the most powerful team in the NBA, with LeBron their most powerful player. But the figures to advance the beginning of January do not add up.
What’s interesting is not that the NBA is rushing back. Their how the league will return. The bubble was a challenge. It was also a resounding success. No player tested positive for COVID-19. No games were interrupted for health reasons. The weather was muggy, the food questionable, and you can only play so many pickleball games. But it worked. Returning to one venue for a full season was unrealistic, the union would never accept it, but there were conversations on GM’s calls about regional bubbles that would quarantine teams for a month at a time.
The NBA is not doing that. They’re going to play in the market, where the Raptors, who, like baseball’s Blue Jays, will have trouble getting Canada to approve the restart in Toronto, will play in the air, in empty spots (sort of). The idea is that some states (Texas, Florida) will open indoor venues more quickly than others, offering a potentially valuable new source of income.
But there are risks with that. Big risks. The NBA will cut back on travel next season, but teams will continue to travel across the country for most of the eight months. It’s eight months on airplanes … on buses … in hotel rooms … in stadiums. They will be asked to stay indoors, to avoid restaurants, bars, and public places. That won’t be easy for a league of twentysomethings.
They will try all this with the pandemic stronger than ever. More than 120,000 coronavirus cases were reported Thursday, a record in the United States. It is the first time that the country exceeds 110,000 in one day. The growth of cases is growing exponentially. Hospitalizations have increased. The death toll continues to rise. We are not, in any way, shape or form, turning the corner. And the holidays threaten to make things significantly worse.
The NBA will try to come back in the middle of that, which raises all kinds of problems. Infections between players, coaches or employees are not only possible, but probable. Will the league postpone matches with a single infection? And the facilities? The NFL has navigated coronavirus problems well, but plays weekly, with limited travel. MLB ended its season, but baseball is a game played on social distance. COVID-19 could spread rapidly between NBA players in close contact. It was starting to fall back in March before the league closed.
The NBA will be ready, of course. The league and union have worked seamlessly to resolve many key issues – that the NBA and the union were able to reach a tentative agreement so quickly is remarkable and a testament to the strength of the relationship, so expect there to be plans for established contingencies. One of them should be a bubble, which may be the only way to guarantee a credibly completed season.
So welcome back, NBA.
Not that we had a lot of time to miss you.
