The NBA hasn’t discussed possibly pausing the 2020/21 season amid a surge in positive COVID-19 tests across the league, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Following a restart in December, two games have been postponed as a result of the crisis, with the Miami Heat’s fixture against the Boston Celtics originally set for Sunday night the latest to get pushed back after a Heat player showed an inconclusive test. The Celtics only had a minimum of eight players themselves and would have had to manage a difficult rotation had the game gone on as planned.
Despite the rising cases league-wide, Charania reports there’s been no talk of taking a break.
“Inside the league office, there has been no conversation about pausing the season. Sources said that on the Board of Governors call on Friday, there was discussion about how the NBA’s coronavirus case rate has fared better than the NFL’s at the same juncture of the season, how comfortable fans could be when they’re able to return to arenas and vaccines are more generally available, as well as continuing to be vigilant. The status of the season was not mentioned — at all, sources said.”
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver expected January to be a challenging month but hopes things could get better by February.
“January is going to be the worst month,” Silver is said to have told a group of team governors; general managers and presidents; coaches; and NBPA leadership on December 30. “We are optimistic about improvements in February … after we get through the darkest days.”
