When the league started its hiatus due to the novel coronavirus, NBA commissioner Adam Silver stated the halt would last at least 30 days. It’s almost been that long — though it feels like it’s been longer — and other than the league’s continued communication among governors, there has been no sign of when play will resume.
At this stage, it’s not a reach to doubt a 2020 NBA champion will be crowned. Kevin Durant’s business manager Rich Kleiman is among those who doesn’t seem to think it’s possible for play to pick up. He explained why while on ESPN’s ‘The Will Cain Show’ on Friday:
It’s hard for me to imagine that an NBA season could return when you hear the numbers of casualties predicted, when you hear the number of people that will be inflicted by this. And to think that these guys can just go. And I do understand that all of us are working within these conditions for sure. Maybe some things are just not salvageable.
Kleiman continued:
In these lockout seasons, when the lockout ends, they don’t go, ‘OK, well let’s add another 32 games on the end of it.’ And I get it. They’ll have to be something to be figured out from the financial standpoint. And I’d love to be able to have a voice in that because I understand it’s real. But what I do know is that maybe, this just can’t be fixed.