The spread of the novel coronavirus has had the world on hold and the NBA has been in hiatus since March 11. However, there is a chance that there will be a resumption of the 2019-20 season with both Disney World in Orlando and The Strip in Las Vegas offering a sort of “bubble” for the league to resume the season.
The biggest aspect of this “bubble” is that there will be no fans at the games. For the Philadelphia 76ers, who have the best home record in the NBA, this could play a factor for them. However, NBA legend Magic Johnson has said that that does not matter for the players.
Johnson told The Los Angeles Times:
“When you’re going for something and you get past those first few minutes, you don’t know the difference because your competitive juices kick in,” Johnson said during a recent interview. “They’re going to play the game that they love and they’re going to play it 150% like they do with the fans in the stands.
“The only thing they won’t get is that juice when they make a good play or they go on a 12-0 run. There’s nobody there to take them to another level. The crowd takes you to another level. If you’re down, the Lakers fans are some of the best fans in the NBA when they start screaming and hollering. They’ll miss that, but if you think they’re not going to perform just because fans aren’t there, no.”
The NBA is desperate to crown a champion for 2020 and they will stretch out the season as long as they have to, but it will also continue under safe conditions. [lawrence-related id=30422,30413,30404]