In an unprecedented move in the wake of the coronavirus, the NBA season has been postponed. How will this impact the Portland Trail Blazers and the league?
Utah Jazz players Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell were both diagnosed with coronavirus in the last 24 hours. Though the seriousness of their infections isn’t known yet, the NBA obviously could take no chances in regards to the Virus. They suspended the season very quickly after the announcement that Gobert had tested positive. How will this impact the Portland Trail Blazers and the league?
Since that announcement, the NBA’s G-league has been postponed. The NCAA has cancelled March Madness, and then FIBA has postponed all international events. We won’t speculate of the seriousness of the virus but obviously the virus has taken hold in some first world countries with a large amount of fatalities.
The NBA wanted to avoid any cases in players, teams or staff as the obvious close proximity when teams play each other and the physical contact means that there is a chance of other people getting sick. The NBA’s swift response in postponing the season and ensuring tests and treatments for its players will mean that teams and players who came into contact with affected players can now be screened appropriately.
In terms of the season itself, there a couple of potential options that could be taken. The first thing is that it’s looking there will be at least a one-month stand down. In a month there will likely be more info on the virus and also how it has impacted the United States.
If the season was to start again on the 13th April for example, the league would have a few key decisions to make.
First would be, how do they make up the games that were missed? Do they just skip the month of games that were missed? Or could they push the season back and shorten the postseason to five-game series?
Rescheduling games is a massive issue and very complex. After the tragic death of Kobe Bryant, the league explained how difficult it was to reschedule games because of the flow on effect to other teams. Maybe the best course of action if the season was to return in a month, would be to just skip the month’s games that were missed and then play the schedule that was already in place from April 13 for example.
Then the postseason could proceed as per normal. One would have to imagine that pushing everything back would then impact the Draft, Free Agency and then Summer league. Making extra complications on what is already a very complex situation.
The Draft process, for example has already changed because the college season has been cancelled, not postponed. So college players can now declare for the Draft and hire an agent.
The league is having a governors call at 3.30 on March 13 to decide the next steps, even if they don’t give any dates then, they will be able to provide some clarity on the situation.
The NBA provided these guidelines to teams this morning.
The NBA has informed all 30 teams on policies effective immediately and through March 16, including:
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 12, 2020
- All players must remain in market of team
- Players remain home as long as possible
- NO group workouts, practices
- Team physicians/trainers speak to each player once a day
For the Portland Trail Blazers in particular, a shortened season would probably spell the end of their playoff chances. But speculating on this is pointless till we hear from the NBA on their future plans.
At the end of the day though, this virus is bigger than basketball and needs to be treated that way. People’s lives and health should be the priority. Let’s hope for quick recoveries of loved ones and a vaccine to help those in critical conditions. Rip City Project will continue to provide NBA content in the meantime though!