Following the suspension of the 2019-2020 regular season on March 11, 2020, due to Covid-19, three months have passed. The National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) met over the weekend to strategize the league's return. As of June 5, the NBPA has agreed to a 22-team format, with the games set to be played at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Disney in Orlando, Florida.
The regular season of NBA 2019-2020 was suspended on March 11, 2020, due to the Covid-19 pandemic and it has been now three months since that. This weekend National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) met to make plans for the return of the game. On June 5 NBPA representatives agreed on a 22-team format basis when the games will resume its play that is scheduled to take place in Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida.
In a conference call this Friday, roughly 100 NBA players shared their anxieties about returning to the court. Kyrie Irving, serving as NBPA vice president, contended that the current social unrest in the U.S. makes it the wrong time to resume. Aside from the pandemic, the nation is seeing massive protests against systemic racism. Many players backed Irving's view, suggesting that basketball would only serve as a distraction from the Black Lives Matter movement. At the same time, other players argued that the game could actually be used to draw more eyes and attention to the cause.
During a Monday night appearance on ESPN, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver expressed his confidence in the league's return, suggesting that basketball could lift public morale and provide a vital forum for discussing racism and other social injustices. Damian Lillard, however, offered a more nuanced take. While he acknowledged that the pandemic had been a struggle and the NBA could provide a sense of normalcy, he believes the current racial injustice is a breaking point. Lillard argued that the game should not overshadow the Black Lives Matter movement. Meanwhile, the Clippers' Patrick Beverley took to Twitter to suggest that if LeBron James decides to play, the rest of the league will likely follow his lead.
The current plan is for NBA teams to resume training at their own facilities starting June 30, with the move to Orlando happening the following week. Once there, each team will compete in eight regular-season matchups before heading into the playoffs.