By Saransh Sharma and Anish Dhondi

37 days ago, the NBA was the first American sports league to shut down its current regular season due to the Coronavirus outbreak, but as always, Commissioner Adam Silver is thinking one step ahead, which is figuring out how the NBA could be reopened. Many people have speculated as to if the NBA should continue the regular season upon return, go straight to the playoffs, play all games in one state or city, and even the possibility of having teams play with no fans in attendance for the next 12-18 months. The NBA also announced today that they are keeping 25% of the paychecks for every player this season after May 1st. In more player-related news, Utah Jazz players, including most publicly Donovan Mitchell, have voiced their frustrations towards teammate Rudy Gobert and how to deal with the way he handled the Coronavirus situation, and took the whole thing seemingly as a joke before eventually seeing himself and Mitchell get the virus. A lot of ideas have been thrown around, and the recent outreach by US President Donald Trump to reopen the league has people wondering how it could reopen, and which teams could thrive and which teams are ready for big changes. Here is the latest of what is being said about the NBA coming back:

The NBA Has a 25-Day Training Camp, Then Resumes the Season

With the strict quarantine in place in the US, it’s unrealistic for NBA players to continue the regular season with a couple days notice. There must be a detailed month long plan to slowly ease players back into games for their own safety. Many NBA players have had no access to gyms or basketball courts during the quarantine and with the fast-paced current NBA it’s vital that players constantly work to stay in shape for the season to avoid injuries. Although commissioner Adam Silver said the NBA is unable to make any decisions about re-opening until May, there have been proposals like the 25-day plan to be prepared. The first part of this plan consists of 11 day individual workouts so players can ease their way back into shape and prepare for games while maintaining social distancing. Then if the players are medically cleared, the individual workouts are followed by a 14 day training camp where the entire teams can practice. However, the regular season will most likely not resume as normal as a vital part of the game will be missing. The NBA is leaning towards playing the remaining games without fans in attendance. The games would most likely take place in a city with a low coronavirus count. With this proposal all teams and players would have to stay in hotels and continue to practice social distancing. NBA games would be played in a neutral court nationally televised with no home or away advantage and players would continue to be tested weekly. Another thing that is important to consider in this situation is that pushing the NBA regular season back would affect the start of next season. Adam Silver wants to make sure the next season isn’t delayed too far past November and given the current state of the pandemic, cancelling this NBA season is not preferred but it is not off the table.

President Trump and the Commissioners Working for Reopening ASAP

President Trump, like the rest of us sports fans, is missing sports quite a bit, and feels it is essential that we get sports back, as he has stated numerous times this past week about how we need sports to come back. While athletes like LeBron James and Mavericks Owner Mark Cuban would love to have fans present and would do anything in their power to come up with a scenario where fans can safely be brought back into stadiums, the odds certainly do not favor them, and they will have to have their seasons go on without the fans. 

At many press conferences, himself and White House Health Administrator, Dr. Anthony Fauci, have talked about reopening, and just yesterday morning, Dr. Fauci said that there is a very high chance that sports will return this summer, but no fans will be present. The current re-evaluation date for if the country is safe to open up certain businesses such as the NBA is May 1st, and by then, Fauci would like to answer questions such as the reopening of sports then. Fauci’s current idea is that the NBA, along with other leagues, have all the players come to one big city or area where Coronavirus is not a hotspot to avoid players having to travel, have them stay in hotels for the rest of the season, get tested every single week and be surveilled by their team medical staffers, and play the season out in neutral-site stadiums, although with no fans, whether you are playing a home or away game, it will not be noticeable. All games would also be aired to the public at home as normal regular season games would be, yet things such as commentators travelling and camera crews remain to be seen. Either way, assuming that by May 1st these questions are answered by Fauci and his team, the NBA and other sports will be coming our way this summer. 

The Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell Beef

There have been rumors about conflicts between Jazz players Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell. The root of conflict originates from Rudy Gobert’s careless acts of touching all of the microphones on the desk mocking the seriousness of Coronavirus. Soon after, Rudy Gobert was the first NBA player tested positive for Coronavirus shutting down the NBA indefinitely. A couple days later reports of Gobert’s carelessness in the locker room arose as he was reportedly touching other player’s stuff and not taking the situation seriously. Donovan Mitchell was later tested positive for Coronavirus, which he assumes most likely came from Gobert, causing tension between the two Jazz stars. Rudy Gobert apologized for his actions however, the two didn’t talk for days and reports called their relationship “doesn’t appear salvageable”. A couple days ago, the media asked Gobert about his relationship with Mitchell and he said “It’s true that we didn’t speak for a while after this, but we spoke a few days ago,” and he continued that they’re “both ready to go out there and try to win a championship for this team.” Gobert also talked about not all relationships being perfect but he and Mitchell have the same goal for this thriving Jazz team to win a championship. We don’t know if the media is blowing their beef out of proportion or if Gobert is downplaying the situation. However, the Jazz organization has stated that they currently don’t plan to part ways with either Gobert or Mitchell in their attempt for a championship.