Though Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving believes that NBA players shouldn’t resume the 2019-20 season amid ongoing racial justice movements, it doesn’t appear that his sentiment is widespread.
Irving organized a conference call Friday involving about 80 NBA players, and he reportedly argued against resuming the season. For now, the league’s plan is to restart the season — which was suspended in March due to COVID-19 — in July at a neutral “bubble” site near Orlando.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne, Irving’s movement is unlikely to jeopardize the season. They write:
ESPN’s reporting with players, agents, the NBPA and league officials over the weekend found no indication that the NBA’s return is in jeopardy — or that there’s even a significant group of players ready to sit out.
There are expected to be some players who decide not to play, sources said, but so far there’s no indication that it’s enough to compromise the league’s plans to return, which have already been approved by the owners (29-1) and team representatives (28-0).
ESPN story with @RamonaShelburne: NBPA’s Michele Roberts tells ESPN the players spent weekend discussing how they could best use "our obvious influence … to make sure we enhance and move this movement forward" rather than distracting from it. https://t.co/qU0Of058My
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 15, 2020
Michele Roberts, who serves as executive director of the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA), suggested to ESPN that the platform of NBA games could allow players to “encourage and enhance” the Black Lives Matter movement. Houston Rockets guard Austin Rivers is one of many who appears to agree with that perspective.
The NBA’s restart plan calls for games to be played at the “bubble” site and without fans, all aimed at reducing exposure risks to COVID-19. Eight regular-season games will be played starting July 30, and the subsequent 2020 NBA playoffs will run as late as Oct. 13.
Team training camps in home markets are expected to begin around June 30, while July 7 appears to be the target date for teams to begin reporting to the neutral Disney complex in Florida.
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