All eyes on NBA as sports continues playing in a pandemic
It is nothing short of a miracle that so many sports have managed to keep playing in the middle of a pandemic.
While the pro sports world has certainly been riddled with cancellations throughout 2020, the number of events that have actually taken place – and most importantly taken place safely – is amazing.
The Stanley Cup, the Larry O’Brien Trophy and the World Series trophy were all presented in 2020.
The job done by the National Hockey League, the National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball to get their 2020 seasons in wasn’t perfect, but it was close enough to perfect (although MLB certainly made more than a few mistakes).
The NBA bubble and the NHL hub cities concepts were the stuff of science fiction novels. Just imagine if anybody had told you before March that an entire sports league could operate like they did.
Incredible achievement – and not a single positive COVID result in any of the venues over a several month period.
The MLB had a travel schedule and thus had numerous cases and some real difficulties. But again, the season was completed on time.
The National Football League is having the same issues as MLB did, but they too are just weeks away from a completed season.
However – what’s next? COVID-19 is still here. We are in a crushing second wave that has resulted in lockdowns here in Peel and elsewhere.
The number of people being infected is at its height and fears are it will get worse over the rest of the winter and especially the holiday season.
Vaccines have arrived and so there is light at the end of the tunnel, but it will take many months before enough people are vaccinated to allow for the return to a more normal life for all of us.
Things are getting worse before they get better – ask anybody who runs a restaurant if that’s a true statement or not.
Despite that, pro sports is trying to move on with their next seasons. First of the big four North American sports to attempt a second goaround is the NBA.
Right from the start of the pandemic, the NBA has been one of the leaders in pro sports. On Mar. 11, with a packed arena of fans waiting for a game, Commissioner Adam Silver made the call – get the fans out of there, the game and season is on hold.
Utah Jazz player Rudy Gobert had tested positive for COVID, so immediately the NBA shuttered its operations.
After months of meticulous planning, they opened the NBA bubble at Disney World in Orlando, Florida, and the rest is history.
Job one was accomplished incredibly well – finish the season they already started. Now it’s time for job two – get another one in before the summer.
There are more risks involved with completing this season for the NBA than there were during the bubble season.
There is no bubble; teams are travelling back and forth between cities. COVID numbers are raging high, especially in the United States.
Yet the NBA preseason has begun, and the Toronto Raptors have already played two pre-season games (they are playing their home games this year in Tampa Bay due to the border restrictions between Canada and the USA).
I will never question the NBA or NHL’s ability to find a way to play after the jobs that were done earlier this year. However, that was accomplished over the summer months when COVID numbers were relatively low, and in a tightly controlled bubble environment where player movement was severely restricted.
As we’ve seen with the MLB and NFL, when you aren’t in a bubble, it’s a lot harder to keep the pandemic in check.
There is no doubt that there will be multiple positive results this time around and playing outside of a bubble or hub is far more risky.
Despite that the NBA launched its 2020-21 season surprisingly quickly.
Regular season games begin Dec. 23 and the 72-game regular season and playoffs will end no later than July 22, one day before the Summer Olympics are scheduled to open in Japan.
That is a very ambitious plan fraught with risk. We all hope and pray that by the summer we’ll be back to some degree of normalcy, but there’s a long cold winter ahead of us.
Keeping the COVID numbers down to a manageable number will be a severe challenge for the NBA.
The whole sports world will be watching the NBA, along with the NFL, as it tries to get its Super Bowl game done in time in February.
The NHL is expected back at some point, but that won’t be until later in January.
In the meantime, basketball fans will be following the games of their favorite NBA team and watching the scores carefully, hoping for a win.
The rest of the pro sports world and health officials will be watching the numbers carefully – the numbers of positive COVID tests – and will be also hoping for a win.
The biggest win for everybody will be for the NBA to just complete its season, no matter which team wins.
—— Roger Lajoie is a sports talk show host on Sportsnet 590 The Fan. He’s been in the sports media business for 40 years, and was Vice President of the Mississauga St.
Michael’s Majors in 2011-12.
While the pro sports world has certainly been riddled with cancellations throughout 2020, the number of events that have actually taken place – and most importantly taken place safely – is amazing.
The Stanley Cup, the Larry O’Brien Trophy and the World Series trophy were all presented in 2020.
The job done by the National Hockey League, the National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball to get their 2020 seasons in wasn’t perfect, but it was close enough to perfect (although MLB certainly made more than a few mistakes).
The NBA bubble and the NHL hub cities concepts were the stuff of science fiction novels. Just imagine if anybody had told you before March that an entire sports league could operate like they did.
Incredible achievement – and not a single positive COVID result in any of the venues over a several month period.
The MLB had a travel schedule and thus had numerous cases and some real difficulties. But again, the season was completed on time.
The National Football League is having the same issues as MLB did, but they too are just weeks away from a completed season.
However – what’s next? COVID-19 is still here. We are in a crushing second wave that has resulted in lockdowns here in Peel and elsewhere.
The number of people being infected is at its height and fears are it will get worse over the rest of the winter and especially the holiday season.
Vaccines have arrived and so there is light at the end of the tunnel, but it will take many months before enough people are vaccinated to allow for the return to a more normal life for all of us.
Things are getting worse before they get better – ask anybody who runs a restaurant if that’s a true statement or not.
Despite that, pro sports is trying to move on with their next seasons. First of the big four North American sports to attempt a second goaround is the NBA.
Right from the start of the pandemic, the NBA has been one of the leaders in pro sports. On Mar. 11, with a packed arena of fans waiting for a game, Commissioner Adam Silver made the call – get the fans out of there, the game and season is on hold.
Utah Jazz player Rudy Gobert had tested positive for COVID, so immediately the NBA shuttered its operations.
After months of meticulous planning, they opened the NBA bubble at Disney World in Orlando, Florida, and the rest is history.
Job one was accomplished incredibly well – finish the season they already started. Now it’s time for job two – get another one in before the summer.
There are more risks involved with completing this season for the NBA than there were during the bubble season.
There is no bubble; teams are travelling back and forth between cities. COVID numbers are raging high, especially in the United States.
Yet the NBA preseason has begun, and the Toronto Raptors have already played two pre-season games (they are playing their home games this year in Tampa Bay due to the border restrictions between Canada and the USA).
I will never question the NBA or NHL’s ability to find a way to play after the jobs that were done earlier this year. However, that was accomplished over the summer months when COVID numbers were relatively low, and in a tightly controlled bubble environment where player movement was severely restricted.
As we’ve seen with the MLB and NFL, when you aren’t in a bubble, it’s a lot harder to keep the pandemic in check.
There is no doubt that there will be multiple positive results this time around and playing outside of a bubble or hub is far more risky.
Despite that the NBA launched its 2020-21 season surprisingly quickly.
Regular season games begin Dec. 23 and the 72-game regular season and playoffs will end no later than July 22, one day before the Summer Olympics are scheduled to open in Japan.
That is a very ambitious plan fraught with risk. We all hope and pray that by the summer we’ll be back to some degree of normalcy, but there’s a long cold winter ahead of us.
Keeping the COVID numbers down to a manageable number will be a severe challenge for the NBA.
The whole sports world will be watching the NBA, along with the NFL, as it tries to get its Super Bowl game done in time in February.
The NHL is expected back at some point, but that won’t be until later in January.
In the meantime, basketball fans will be following the games of their favorite NBA team and watching the scores carefully, hoping for a win.
The rest of the pro sports world and health officials will be watching the numbers carefully – the numbers of positive COVID tests – and will be also hoping for a win.
The biggest win for everybody will be for the NBA to just complete its season, no matter which team wins.
—— Roger Lajoie is a sports talk show host on Sportsnet 590 The Fan. He’s been in the sports media business for 40 years, and was Vice President of the Mississauga St.
Michael’s Majors in 2011-12.