Will NBA players attend the Olympics in 2021? Will the games overshadow the NBA? Could a different group of players go to Tokyo than planned?
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OLYMPIC BASKETBALL: With the announcement this week that the Olympics would be getting postponed until 2021 due to the coronavirus outbreak, things regarding the upcoming Games got interesting from an NBA perspective. That’s because we now have to wonder: Depending on when the Olympics are rescheduled, could that prevent NBA players – not just Americans, but from all over the world – from participating?
After all, we don’t even know when the NBA will be returning to complete the 2019-20 campaign – if they do at all. If the mid- to late-June projections are true, that would leave the league without enough time to start the 2020-21 season in October like they usually do, likely pushing back the start date of next year’s campaign, too. There’s little chance if that’s the case, that the timeline for the Olympics and 2020-21 season don’t clash, leaving us without the possibility for NBA players joining in on the competition.
What’s more, and even worse for the league, let’s say the Games occur in April or May when the NBA playoffs usually take place, will the postseason get overshadowed by the vastly popular and global Olympics? That could be a nightmare scenario for Adam Silver and Co.
Perhaps the 2020-21 season is planned with the Olympics in mind in order to avoid competing against the once-every-four-year festivities and allowing for NBA players to participate. But if they aren’t, basketball in the Games might not be as fun as it usually is.
HOPEFUL CORONA UPDATE: Our own Alex Kennedy spoke to former NBA forward Donatas Motiejunas, who plays in China, to discuss what things are like in Shanghai now that they’ve successfully flattened the curve. Motiejunas was happy to share that the massive Chinese city is slowly coming back to life.
SLAM DUNK CHAMP: Two-time Slam Dunk champion Jason Richardson dominated a couple of All-Star weekends in his heyday, but he never did so as an All-Star himself. The 13-year NBA veteran feels he should have made a few All-Star rosters, though. He discussed that and much more recently with us.
CLUTCH GENE: Curious about which NBA players have been the most productive during what the league defines as “clutch time” (when the score is within five points in the final five minutes of regulation or overtime) over the past 24 years? You’re in luck, as we broke down what the numbers say about 50 popular NBA stars’ clutchness here.
WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN: We recently talked to four-time All-Star and University of Memphis head coach Penny Hardaway, who said a lot of interesting things, including that if Shaq had stayed in Orlando, they would have won championships (plural) together.
LOOKING BACK: We re-ranked a couple of classic drafts, the one from 1998 and the one from 1999, to determine what the actual draft orders should have been. A couple of international players, Dirk Nowitzki and Manu Ginobili, made big jumps to No. 1 in both rankings.
SCARY NIGHT: Jazz rookie Juwan Morgan discusses what the night that the NBA season got postponed was like, an important first-hand account as a teammate of Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell.
BIG IMPLICATIONS: The coronavirus-forced break of NBA action will present major challenges to both the league and its players, including a potentially (much) low salary cap and a huge loss of Basketball Related Income.
SNEAKER LIFE: Recruiting and pitch meetings are just as important in sneaker free agency as they are for regular player free agency. Find out why here.
FRESH POD: We were joined by ex-NBA guard Larry Hughes, who talked about playing with Michael Jordan and LeBron James, losing his brother, Justin, to a heart issue, being limited by injuries throughout his career and more.
