The NBA’s season has now been suspended for more than a month after Utah Jazz star center Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19.
There’s no telling when (or if) the season will resume with the United States now the epicenter of the pandemic. While some national leaders and those within the states want to re-open the economy here in the not-so-distant future, the likelihood of sports returning any time soon is pretty minimal.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver touched on that topic on Friday. The highly respected commish noted that data, not dates, will dictate when the NBA season resumes. Silver also noted that he’s unsure when things can start up again.
Previous suggestions were that the NBA could decide to conclude the season with the playoffs and Finals in Las Vegas. Given that Nevada is still under stay-at-home orders with non-essential businesses closed, that seems unlikely.
More than anything, the NBA is working against time here. Even if the COVID-19 curve is flattened in say few weeks, it would then take some time to get players in physical condition to play.
The good news on this front is that leading health experts do believe sports can return in some fashion this year. Whether that will be in time to save the 2019-20 NBA season remains to be seen.