The majority of NBA players on teams effectively eliminated from playoff contention in the 2019-20 season do not want to resume their seasons, according to a new report by Chris Haynes of Yahoo! Sports.
The league has been halted since March 12 due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, with most teams having played in the ballpark of 65 games of the NBA’s usual 82-game regular season. While not locked in, both conferences now have a significant gap in the standings between the eight playoff teams and anyone on the outside looking in.
As a result, players on teams that are all-but-mathematially eliminated don’t have much incentive to return after a long layoff. Haynes writes:
The majority of players who are essentially eliminated from postseason contention would rather the league start back up with the top eight teams in each conference competing in some sort of playoff, sources said.
That jives with comments last month from Golden State coach Steve Kerr, who said his Warriors (15-50) felt like it was “the end of the season” for their team. According to Haynes, many players opposed to returning themselves do still want the playoffs to proceed for financial reasons.
For some players out of the playoff picture, there’s concern a canceled season could negatively affect the next CBA, sources said.
Yahoo Sources: NBA superstars LeBron James, Chris Paul, Damian Lillard, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard and Stephen Curry held private conference call on Monday and established united front in favor of resuming season. https://t.co/FZJfgP6WDu pic.twitter.com/6AZOWe0AXo
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) May 12, 2020
In the same story, Haynes reports that a group of NBA stars including Houston’s Russell Westbrook all agreed Monday during a private conference call that the league should resume the 2019-20 season with proper safety measures. Besides Westbrook, others on the call included Chris Paul, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kawhi Leonard, Stephen Curry, and Damian Lillard.
But of that group, only Curry and Lillard play for non-playoff teams. While Haynes says the unified voices from many of the league’s heavyweights should carry significant weight when it comes time for other players to decide on restarting the season, it remains to be seen whether that would be enough for the entire league to want to return.
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The NBA has indicated that it would like to play regular-season games before the playoffs, but it has yet to commit to that path. No timetable is currently set for the league’s potential resumption, which would almost certainly occur at a neutral site such as Orlando or Las Vegas.
Should they go straight to the playoffs, Houston (40-24) would be the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference and slated for a first-round series versus No. 3 Denver (43-22). The Nuggets and Rockets split their four games in the regular season, with the home team winning each time.
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