Thing is, it would never be as safe as it was before in a long time, LBJ. This is a new time of Social Distancing.
I'm telling my children Gobert started Corona virus. They should finish this season as a 3on3 tournament in 10 years with the same rosters. It'd be wild.
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/29119309/inside-nba-urgent-decisions-tries-finish-season Dont get your hopes up, it's easier not to get disappointed. The US has a 3rd of the confirmed global corona cases. NBA is probably not coming back this summer
Did LeBron ever say he doesn't want to get paid? I'm not sure why they're even postponing the draft. Just hold it virtually, like the NFL just did.
My comment was sarcastic. LeBron retracted what he said when he realized how ignorant that was. Of course the players want to play, just like all the other workers who are out of work want to get back to work. The difference is, the league will put in all the resources to make sure the players are as safe as possible, unlike millions of everyday workers who do not get the same protection from their employers.
the season isn't even officially complete yet. draft has a whole lot to do with the conclusion of it. the NFL season wasn't halted in the middle of it
Yes, understand....mine was too. I think there will be some players, perhaps even bronbron, who are reluctant to play if no fans. But none of them will be reluctant to get paid, so.... Also, and this applies to all sports I think, the actual risk for the players is quite low. They can likely get tested frequently, catching any outbreak early and minimizing its impact and spread...and none of them are in any of the high risk groups. Under those circumstances, where would CV risk weigh compared to injury risk they play with every day, particularly in heavy contact sports. Quite low, I would think. Particularly when, with the screening, you could be fairly sure none of the players have it prior to the game. So, the *risk* is more towards the brand, than it is the players, IMHO. A decision each league will need to address. But what is far more powerful than corona here is green disease. They will all want their $$$, if they can get it without too much risk. And more important than player salaries, gate receipts, concessions, etc, is TV $$$. And they don't need fans there for that. Clearly, or the Marlins would have folded long ago.
The problem isn't lack of testing. The problem is, players are going to get PISSED if they have to miss a string of games because of catching the virus - something that can easily be prevented. Imagine your team's player(s), best or otherwise, not suiting up for the playoffs or for an otherwise very important game(s) because they contracted Covid-19.
Well, that means that COVID 19 will be part of the health equation, just like pulling a hammy. It's just more random and less predictable.
Prevented...how? By not playing? That's not much of an argument. ALL injuries could be prevented if they simply never played the games. So, what exactly what they be upset about again? Imagine your team's player(s), best or otherwise, not suiting up for the playoffs or for an otherwise very important game(s) because they injured themselves. What is the difference?
The difference is, injury is part of the sport. There's always a risk of injury, from a minor ankle sprain to a full-on ACL tear, and everything in between. A virus - one currently without a vaccine - is not part of the sport of basketball. Also, you can't pass on your ankle sprain to your family, friends and loved ones just by being around them, as you can this virus.
There won’t be any NBA basketball until we have a definitive treatment, or even better an vaccine. It’s time to just let go of this fantasy of the season returning in the foreseeable future.
Define 'foreseeable', please. Are they going to finish this season? Have no idea. Are they going to have next season? I'd be shocked if they didn't. What's the 'definitive treatment' for any flu? Same here. It's only the very extreme cases that need anything more than that. The issue for players isn't really treatment. It's testing and prevention. Yes, you can 'prevent' it by not playing...but that also 'prevents' anyone from getting paid. CV is part of reality now. So, back to my original point. Yes, there is the issue of spreading it...which can be managed by testing. They could also manage it by quarantining the players, which I believe they have discussed.
By foreseeable I mean NBA basketball is suspended indefinitely. COVID-19 is far more lethal than the flu is. The flu has a mortality rate of ~0.1% while COVID-19’s mortality rate is around 6%. Current treatments: preventative measures for the flu include vaccines, anti-virals and other medications. Current treatments for COVID-19 are largely supportive. Some medications have shown promise in fighting COVID, but nothing has been definitely proven. I agree that COVID-19 is part of the new reality. It’s time to accept that how we are living now is essential the new normal. Things will loosen up a bit but this is essentially life now. Spreading could possibly be slowed by testing but testing isn’t quite where it needs to be. There are false positives and negatives that occur more often than medical professionals are comfortable with. There is also the possibility that a person may be spreading the disease before their levels are high enough to test positive. Testing negative one day doesn’t mean that you’ll be negative the next day or even a few hours later. Currently we haven’t even tested 10% of the population. Where would all of these tests come from to use on the players as each player would require multiple tests? I don’t see any sports occurring until we get a vaccine/treatment or we see natural declines in the infection rate due to developed immunity again reinfection in the population (the immunity against repeat infection for COVID hasn’t been established).
