Over the weekend, the National Basketball Association confirmed their efforts to resume the NBA season at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. In addition to the public acknowledgement from the league office, the league has also been soliciting the opinions of their 30 general managers on the best possible formats, which include everything from concluding a shortened regular season or introducing a World Cup-style pool play first round before getting to the knockout stages, as reported on Tuesday by The Ringer. And like clockwork, we have our first NBA superstar threatening not to play if his team isn’t given an opportunity to be a part of a reformatted or expanded playoff format.
Portland Trail Blazers superstar guard Damian Lillard told Yahoo’s Chris Haynes on Tuesday that he will be with his team but will not play in games if the league’s solution is a shortened regular season where the Blazers don’t have a chance to make up a 3.5 game gap between them and Memphis for the 8th seed in the West. Not to mention that the New Orleans Pelicans and Sacramento Kings are tied with Portland in the standings, with the San Antonio Spurs being a 1/2 game behind those three squads. Lillard said that he would, however, love to play in an expanded playoff format.
“If we come back and I don’t have an opportunity to make the playoffs, I will show up to work, I’ll be at practice and I’ll be with my team. I’m going to do all that [expletive] and then I’m going to be sitting right on that bench during the games,” Lillard told Yahoo Sports. “If they come back and say it’s something like a tournament, play-in style, between the No. 7 and No. 12 seeds, if we’re playing for playoff spots, then I think that’s perfect.”
Lillard is the biggest star yet to suggest he may not play when the NBA restarts and is the first to lay-out what kind of format he hopes to see. With the NBA and commissioner Adam Silver still determining the kind of format we may see, Lillard’s stance puts a little pressure on the league to include the fringe playoff teams in the West.
Also, you’d have to think that adding some more star power with Lillard, as well as Pelicans star Zion Williamson, the NBA would have a more compelling television product as well.
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