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The NBA found a way to cope last season in the midst of a pandemic. Adam Silver doesn’t see any reason why the same can’t ring true again this season.
Silver, the NBA commissioner, said on Monday (Tuesday in Manila), a day before the new season begins, that he is confident that the league’s health and safety protocols will allow teams to surpass their planned rosters of 72 games for the regular season even as the coronavirus problem spreads across the country and the world. However, he cautioned that he expects the virus to create some problems down the road.
“I think we are prepared for isolated cases; in fact, based on what we’ve seen in the preseason, based on seeing other leagues operating out of a ‘bubble’, unfortunately, it seems inevitable, “said Silver. “We are prepared for all contingencies.”
Games could be postponed or canceled along the way, and Silver said that if the league encounters issues that cannot be controlled by what is covered in health and safety protocols, suspend the season, as was the case on March 11. , when the 2019 2020 season stopped for four and a half months; again it will be a possibility.
But the league, Silver promised, will wait its turn for players and others within the NBA to get vaccinated against the coronavirus.
“In no way will we jump the line,” Silver said.
Silver spoke on the eve of the season-opening doubleheader: Golden State visiting Brooklyn and the Los Angeles Clippers playing defending champion Los Angeles Lakers. He said that if the league didn’t believe in his plans, the season just wouldn’t start.
“We anticipate there will be bumps in the road on the road,” Silver said.
Teams will play 10 fewer games than the usual 82-game roster. The season begins two months later than usual and the playoffs are scheduled to run through July, all with players and coaches being evaluated daily and with nearly 60 players already missing time with their teams during training camp and preseason. due to positive coronavirus. disease tests 2019 (Covid-19).
And as was the case at Disney, social justice initiatives remain the league’s top priorities, Silver said. The efforts will be different now, for example “Black Lives Matter” is no longer painted on the playing fields, a change from what was the case in the bubble. Buy, the commissioner stressed that fighting racial inequality is no less important now than it was then.
“I think there has also been a new awakening among the players in the league as to the impact they can have when they use the platforms they have to talk about issues that are important to them,” Silver said. “So I think it’s a combination of the collective action that the league will take together with its players and coaches, and furthermore, the players realize the enormous reach that they have with their voices.”
Toronto guard Kyle Lowry said last week that he hopes the league will continue to drive the conversation about the need for social change.
“For me, it’s about action. It’s about doing it, ”Lowry said. “It may not say it on the court or it may not say it on our jerseys or on the back of jerseys, but it resonates when you’re doing things in your communities, to uplift your communities and encourage other people. So that’s a great thing, is to continue, yourself, to make it matter. “
Currently, the NBA expects only six of its 30 teams to open the season with fans in the stands, and no stadium plans to have more than 4,000 ticket holders in the seats at this time. Lower attendance means lower revenue, and the league lost its revenue projection by roughly $ 1.5 billion last season, largely because many games were canceled and bubble games, including the playoffs, were played with no fans in the seats. .
Silver said playing another season without fans would mean NBA revenue would drop about 40%.
“Tens of thousands of people depend on our league and its related businesses for their livelihoods,” Silver said. “We also feel a responsibility to our fans. People continue to view sports as a break from the challenges of the pandemic and as a little reminder of what life was like before Covid-19 … It’s a part of life that I feel we can take back, for now. “
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