THE National Basketball Association (NBA) has been inactive since the American professional league suspended play last March 12 for a minimum for 30 days due to the global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that has struck more than 150 countries, including the U.S., which at the moment is being plagued by the virus in at least seven states, namely California, New York, Florida, Michigan, Illinois, Washington and New Jersey.
The number of known cases of the coronavirus in the NBA has reached 14 as of this writing: Patient Zero Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell of the Utah Jazz, Christian Wood of the Detroit Pistons, Kevin Durant and three other unnamed Brooklyn Nets players, Marcus Smart of the Boston Celtics and two unnamed Los Angeles Lakers players; three individuals with the Philadelphia 76ers organization; and a member of the Denver Nuggets organization.
Scuttlebutt has it that the NBA will resume regular-season activity (most likely without spectators in attendance) in mid-or late June and stage the playoffs in late July or early August assuming, of course, the virus has been contained.
If not, cancellation is another option that will cost the NBA around $500 million in revenues.
That the sporting world here and abroad has come to an abrupt halt is the least of most people’s priorities. For that does not compare to the lives of one billion people across the globe whose lives styles have drastically changed as they are government-mandated to stay at home locked at home in self-quarantine due to the COVID-19 that has infected more than 400,000 people and claimed the lives of more than 20,000.
That being said, some countries, like China and Japan, have already survived the first wave of infections and are already planning to resume some of their sports activities under a no-fans regulation.
The professional Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) expects to resume action by April 15 with all 20 member clubs playing in just one or two cities with no fans allowed.
Under threat that they could be banned by the FIBA and their Chinese clubs if they don’t return with any prior approval by the two parties, nearly half of the American imports under contract are back in the Mainland under a stringent 14-day quarantine.
Among them is former NBA guard Jeremy Lin, an American of Taiwanese roots who was averaging 24.2 points, 5.8 rebounds and 5.8 assists an outing with the Beijing Ducks when the 20-team CBA suspended play in late January. At the time, the Ducks owned a 19-11 record and were headed to the playoffs.
The 6-foot-3, 31-year-old Lin, who sparked the Linsanity world craze with his stunning performance with the New York Knicks during the 2011-12 season, earned an NBA title ring as a seldom-utilized reserve with the Toronto Raptors last June.
Even the eccentric Lance Stephenson, the imaginary “guitar-playing” member of the dysfunctional 2018-19 Los Angeles Lakers team, will return to the Liaoning club in his maiden CBA stint.
Japan’s B League, a second-tier basketball league in the country which went on forced vacation from mid-February through mid-March, recently attempted to restart last week when several players in a scheduled game were found to be having fever.
The league is back under suspension until April 1.
There is mounting pressure for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to postpone the Tokyo Summer Olympics slated to start on July 24 but the IOC has so far rejected any suggestion to its postponement, cancellation or alteration.
Perhaps there’s so much corporate money at stake in the Tokyo Olympiad in the form of billions of dollars in contracts and sponsorships of the Games. But the health and safety of the participants, from the athletes to team officials to spectators, are of primary importance and profits should always take a backseat in these troubled times.
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