No one knows if the NBA will be able to resume the 2019-20 season, but it sounds like the league may have a plan on how to do so.
On ESPN’s SportsCenter, Brian Windhorst outlined what that plan may consist of.
"What they're looking at is a 25-day return to basketball window."
–@WindhorstESPN details the NBA's back-to-basketball plan pic.twitter.com/7MrQycg11C
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) April 12, 2020
“They’re spending a lot of time getting a back-to-basketball plan ready,” said Windhorst. “They hope they get to use it. Talking to executives and trainers around the league, what they’re looking at is a 25-day return to basketball window. Hopefully at some point they can enact it. An 11-day series of individual workouts where there’d be social distancing for a period of time, and then hopefully if the clearance comes that they can play five-on-five basketball – a 14-day training camp. As you hope for the country to heal and the virus to get better, look for at least about a three-and-a-half to four week return date before you’d ever get back to games.”
On March 11, the World Health Organization declared the novel coronavirus a pandemic.
That same day, it was discovered the Utah Jazz All-Star Rudy Gobert had tested positive for the virus, and NBA commissioner Adam Silver immediately suspended the remainder of the schedule.
There are signs that the spread of the virus has been leveling off over the past week or so. But there’s still a long way to go before industries can be fully restarted, as most states and counties have implemented some sort of stay-at-home order.
If the season does resume, the NBA Finals may have to be played sometime in late summer. That would then push back the start of the 2020-21 season, possibly to Christmas Day.
