In all likelihood, the next time we will get a meaningful update from the NBA with respect to whether the league will complete the 2019-20 season or not will be sometime around May 1.
Among the league’s players and training staff, one of the primary concerns with respect to such a resumption is the extent to which the league’s players have been able to keep themselves in “game shape” over the course of what has now been a one-month layoff.
Unlike the offseason where players are free to work out with one another, travel and participate in pro-am games, a majority of the league’s players are in jurisdictions that are under “shelter in place” orders. Additionally, the league has put forth mandates restricting player movement and shuttering team training facilities. In other words, players who are not fortunate enough to have access to privately-owned facilities don’t have the tools to keep themselves in game shape.
For that reason, according to ESPN’s Baxter Holmes, many within the league’s training and player health community are lobbying for a month-long period in which teams will have the opportunity to get their players back into game shape before playing meaningful games.
In anticipation of this issue, many team officials said there needs to be at least a month-long period to help players physically acclimate and prepare after the layoff to avoid a potential spate of injuries that could follow, according to interviews with athletic training staffers and general managers across the league.
The request makes perfect sense, though it does complicate the league’s ability to resume play and complete the season on a timetable that wouldn’t also inconvenience the 2020-21 season.
If it’s any consolation, in New York — the epicenter of the pandemic in the United States — hospital admissions and reported new cases have been trending downward over the past few days. Mainstream media outlets have been mentioning that the economy, at least in some respect, could begin to reopen in May. If true, that would at least provide some hope that professional sports could follow suit at some point.
The NBA, though, would need time to get its players back into game shape, and that’s not something that’s been lost on the league office.
Ultimately, the NBA, the players’ association and various involved health officials would have to agree on a timeline that serves all parties, multiple general managers said.
“All return-to-play scenarios contemplate the importance of an appropriate training period in order to ensure the health and wellness of our players,” NBA spokesman Tim Frank said.
While it may be too early to determine whether the 2019-20 season will come to a conclusion, these conversations — in conjunction with the hopes that the spread of COVID-19 could be slowing down — are at least a positive indicator for what could lie ahead.