The NBA has yet to commit to resuming its 2019-20 season after halting it in March amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, but they appear to be working on plans for what the return might look like.
In an appearance on Sunday morning’s SportsCenter, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said (here’s the video):
They’re spending a lot of time getting a back to basketball plan ready. They hope they get to use it.
In talking to executives and trainers around the league, what they’re looking at is a 25-day return to basketball window. … An 11-day series of individual workouts, whether it be social distancing for a period of time. And then hopefully, if the clearance comes that they can play five-on-five basketball, a 14-day training camp.
So as you hope for the country to heal and the irus to get better, look for at least about a three-and-a-half to four week return date before you’d ever get back to games.
It appears to be a significant pivot by Windhorst, who earlier this month reported pessimism among sources with both the league office and players union (NBPA) that the season could resume. But in comments last week, Windhorst said he was scolded by both sides for that assessment.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a White House health advisor, expressed cautious optimism Sunday that the deadly outbreak was slowing down. He added that parts of the country could start to reopen as soon as May.
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Per reports, the NBA has discussed scenarios in which they could restart the season with all teams living under quarantine in Las Vegas, with the availability of rapid COVID-19 testing a major priority.
It’s not yet clear whether a rebooted 2019-20 NBA season would go straight to the playoffs or have some regular-season games before then.
The Houston Rockets were 40-24 before the hiatus, which was tied for the No. 5 spot in the Western Conference. Moreover, they were only one back of Utah for the No. 4 spot (with possession of the tiebreaker) and two-and-a-half games back of Denver for No. 3 in the West.
If the league went straight to the playoffs, the sixth-seeded Rockets would face the Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs.
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Houston expected to have 18 regular-season games left to make up the gap, though that appears quite unlikely at present due to the lost calendar dates. However, should games be played at a neutral site (Las Vegas) and without fans, many of the usual perks to a higher seed — such as home-court advantage — may not be applicable to this year’s playoffs.
At this point, with the NBA’s hiatus now a month old and with no clear end in sight, the Rockets would gladly take any opportunity to find out.
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