By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
NBA commissioner Adam Silver held a conference call with NBA players, including NBPA president Chris Paul, plus NBPA executive director Michele Roberts to discuss the league’s plans about the potential resumption of the 2019-2020 season amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Per ESPN, Silver called the crisis as the “greatest challenge of all our lives” while addressing the players. He also provided information on what the league is considering doing regarding player safety and the return to action while answering a couple of “hard” questions.
Here are some of the most important parts of the conference call as reported by ESPN:
– No decision on restarting the season is needed to be taken before June.
– If a player is tested positive for coronavirus after the possible resumption of the season, the league isn’t planning to suspend play or a team but hopes to be able to just remove the player and the player.
– One or two locations will be used to hold the remainder of the season. Orlando and Las Vegas are among them. Two cities max will be the safer, risk-free option, according to Silver.
– The expected “massive” decrease in revenue will inevitably affect salary cap and all related income. 40% of the NBA’s revenues are a result of game nights in arenas, Silver said.
– Silver once again emphasized that the league won’t begin aggressively testing people while there’s a high demand for tests in the country. Around 15,000 tests will be required for the NBA to resume and Silver believes that there will be enough public testing to allow the league to proceed with its plan.
– Some NBA clubs have begun holding voluntary practices. Paul and Roberts said to Silver that teams shouldn’t “pressure” players to participate in these training sessions, and the commissioner replied that the clubs will be reminded of it.
The NBA shut down on March 11 when Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert became the first player of the league to test positive for coronavirus.