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Despite spiking coronavirus numbers and social unrest around the world, sports are slowly but surely coming back. The Premier League resumed play in England on Wednesday, MLB and MLBPA are reportedly making progress toward a deal, and some NBA players are taking softer stances after earlier calling for a return to be halted.
History will determine whether the return of sports was a mistake, but for the time being, it looks like we’ll see an NBA and and MLB champion crowned later this year – yet how will those champions of 2020 be remembered? Each major league is taking a very different approach to handling the coronavirus pandemic, and while some titles will still be comparable to any other, not every sport will be asterisk free in the history books. Here’s a ranking of the most and least legitimate 2020 titles:
No asterisk at all: Premier League, NASCAR
The Premier League is back, but a champion could have just as easily been crowned back in March. Liverpool entered the shutdown with a record of 27-1-1 over its first 29 league games, which was good for a massive 25 point lead on second-place Manchester City. The title race is over, but the battle for Champions League spots and the relegation battle should be entertaining, at least.
NASCAR, meanwhile, benefits from its playoff system format, which since its inception in 2004 has rendered the first half of the season mostly meaningless. The best teams in the sport will advance to the 10-race playoff at the end of the season, where the results will really start to count. In fact, the interrupted season may lead to some positive lasting changes in NASCAR, as the sport has embraced mid-week races that proved to be a major hit with fans.
Probably no asterisk: NBA
The NBA was able to complete the bulk of its regular season, so we already had a fairly clear playoff picture, barring the last few spots in the Western Conference that will likely be irrelevant after the first round anyway. There are certainly concerns about rust and player health after such a long layoff, but with a short regular-season warmup followed by seven-game playoff series, the Finals should deliver two teams playing at their best. One major variable? Skinny Nikola Jokic. If the Nuggets’ formerly chunky man leads Denver to a title while looking unrecognizable, those rings need to have an asterisk engraved.
Gigantic, embarrassing asterisk: MLB
After several rejected proposals, MLB has reportedly sent a proposal to the MLBPA for a 60-game season at full pro-rated pay for players, but as USA TODAY’s Bob Nightengale reports, players still want a longer season. There’s no guarantee that this deal is agreed upon, but as time passes, the likelihood that we get anything close to a representative MLB season wanes by the day. A best-case scenario at this point is a regular season approximately half as long as the regular 162 games, but it’s not out of the question that we get a joke of a 50-game season leading into a meaningless playoffs. This year’s World Series will be about as meaningful as the Astros’ 2017 title, which is a total bummer for whichever team wins.
The Premier League is back
England’s Premier League returned to action on Wednesday, and while the title race is already over, soccer fans are going to get to enjoy a flurry of games nearly every day over the next month. On Wednesday, teams wore special Black Lives Matter and National Health Service patches, and some teams replaced their nameplates with “Black Lives Matter” on the back of the jersey.
Quick hits: Coronavirus tests, Kendrick Perkins vs. Kyrie, Raiders’ new stadium
— Ian Poulter shared what PGA Tour players and other athletes will have to go through regularly by filming his coronavirus test, and the uncomfortable procedure is tough to watch.
— ESPN’s Kendrick Perkins slammed Kyrie Irving for being a ‘distraction,’ and NBA players defended the Nets star
— The Raiders’ new stadium in Las Vegas may look like a Roomba from above, but it looks great at night.