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The NBA remains hopeful it can resume the 2019-20 season, yet there’s still no timeline for when it can expect players to return to the court.
League Commissioner Adam Silver made as much clear during his media availability on Friday.
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Adam Silver on the still frozen NBA future: “We are not in a position to make any decisions and it’s unclear when we will be.”
Silver’s announcement comes shortly after the league and players union agreed to withhold 25 percent of player paychecks beginning next month.
Following Silver’s press conference, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said on SportsCenter the league is likely looking at “some kind of truncated season” should it be able to return.
To that end, the commissioner made clear he will prioritize data when it comes to restarting play. While he is not signaling a potential cancellation of the remainder of the season, he was extremely clear that there are too many unknowns at this point to consider resuming play soon.
Silver on a return to action: “It’s about the data and not the date.”
As the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread across the world, the 57-year-old instead is focused on a number of benchmarks that must be met before he’s comfortable putting players in action. Notably, Silver was named to the White House panel on restarting the economy by President Donald Trump on Tuesday.
Specifically, the NBA wants to see a drop in the infection rate, large-scale testing and a path toward a vaccine among other thresholds that must be met before it can schedule the next tipoff.
Adam Silver, on what he is looking at when considering NBA return:
— New infections to come down
— Availability of testing on large scale
— Path for vaccine
— Anti-virals
— What CDC is “telling us”
— State rules
The league has remained in contact with the federal government and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as it continues to weigh its options for finishing out the season. But the league’s troubles may not end there.
Previous reports indicated the league was looking at hosting the playoffs in Las Vegas under quarantine—much like the rumored MLB plan to play out the season in self-isolation in Arizona—yet Silver remained reluctant to provide any more life to those plans, saying the league has not “seriously engaged” those conversations.
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Adam Silver: “Everything is on the table, including potentially delaying the start of next season.” Adds “the direction the league has received from teams is that all rules are off” in terms of schedule, “and if there is an opportunity to resume play, we should be modeling it.”
On Friday, Silver, who has led the NBA since 2014, said delaying the start of next season is not out of the realm of possibility.
