ASilver dam has a plan. The NBA Commissioner and his committees have worked tirelessly to find a way to save the 2019-2020 season. After much discussion, the league has found a way to bring 22 NBA teams to Walt Disney World, where they will play a regular shortened season (eight games) to finalize the playoff seeds followed by a full post-season. In a perfect world, the resumption of basketball would be a symbolic first step to show that the United States is ready to move on from the coronavirus pandemic.
But is the United States ready to move on from the pandemic?
Absolutely not. In fact, the NBA plans to keep the rest of the season in a state that has seen a sudden increase in cases. On Monday, the Florida Department of Health confirmed that the state had reached 100,000 marks.
But isn’t the NBA forcing anyone to play?
Correct. Participation is completely voluntary, which means that players who do not believe it is safe – or think it would be a distraction from the ongoing protests on Black Lives Matter – can sit without penalty in addition to the missed wages. Indeed, Los Angeles Lakers guard Avery Bradley announced this week that he will not be attending. “At a time like this,” said Bradley, “I can’t imagine making any decision that could endanger my family’s health and well-being even at the slightest risk.”
It is almost certain that the players will be positive, right?
Yes. In fact, it’s already happening, since the NBA started testing earlier this month. On Tuesday, the Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic tested positive and is currently reviewing the protocols before she can travel. Of course, others will be found before the games even begin.
Who will come to this Disney / basketball mashup?
Each team will be granted 17 players, their rounds of 15 full men alongside their two-way players as backups (the league expects a lot of friction here). In addition, the teams will have an assortment of coaches and training staff, up to 37 people per organization. No one, not even LeBron James, will be allowed guests until the second round of the playoffs, so that means everyone will spend time away from their families. While players and staff are expected to remain within the bubble, Disney World employees (they are called “cast members”) will obviously not be subject to these restrictions and will enter the NBA campus from a state where Covid – 19 is currently on the rise.
Everything starts to look like an episode of The Prisoner …
Yes. Indeed, the Ringer took a deep dive into some of the most disturbing aspects of what NBA players will have to endure during their extended stay in the happiest place on earth. Haley O’Shaughnessy notes that each player will have to wear a MagicBand, a bracelet containing an electronic chip, while some players will have the option of wearing a “smart ring” which presumably can predict some symptoms of Covid-19.
In summary: The NBA is slated to resume in Florida just when coronavirus cases are emerging in the state. The games themselves will take place at Walt Disney World, where players will be monitored and monitored electronically. There is a very serious risk that restarting the season will lead directly to people who become seriously ill or even die. Some players seem to think that even playing basketball could distract people from more important matters
Is basketball really worth all this?
Well, market forces have apparently decided that it is. Although Florida’s coronavirus numbers are giving silver nightmares – and they should – it’s probably too late in the process to stop things. It is not so different from many other entrepreneurs who try to understand when to start again knowing that this means gambling with workers’ lives. It’s just that his workers are very famous.
When looking at the league’s plans to address the coronavirus, Michele A Roberts of the NBA Players Association told the Associated Press, “having lived and breathed and suffered for hours and hours of understanding the virus, listening to our experts and comparing among several alternative protocols, I can’t even think of anything else we could do other than hermetically seal the players who will keep them safe. “
What the NBA would like us to hear in Roberts’ statement was his insistence that the league had come up with the plan that had the best chance of protecting everyone. This is probably true. What the NBA would have probably wanted us to do is the tacit acknowledgment that there is no sure way to restart the NBA season in the current circumstances. This is also probably true.
In light of all this, do you think there is an ethical way of watching and enjoying the rest of the NBA season?
This is an excellent question. And the answer may come to haunt the NBA.
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