As Adam Silver addressed the media on Friday, all options remain in play for the season to resume for the Milwaukee Bucks and the rest of the NBA.
No news is good news. Given the situation people across the world currently find themselves in, that old saying wouldn’t quite sum up NBA commissioner Adam Silver’s comments on Friday. But for Milwaukee Bucks fans hoping to see the current season completed, there was certainly nothing to take that possibility off the table.
Speaking following the NBA’s most recent Board of Governors meeting, which took place via video conference, Silver seems to have been completely transparent about the current uncertainty for the NBA, which is really just a part of much greater societal uncertainty overall.
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Considering just how far along in the season we are, and how close the league is to the cash-rich playoffs, there was never any doubt that the NBA would want to do everything in its power to get back to playing. Of course, the current situation is much more complicated than that, leaving so much outside of anyone’s power.
Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN reported on Silver’s comments, where the commissioner detailed some of the essential elements that would have to be a part of any league plan to resume the season:
"“Silver said the NBA is watching to see whether the number of new infections decreases, and is monitoring the availability of testing on a large scale and the path toward a potential vaccine and antiviral drugs. The NBA also is paying close attention to what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is directing on a federal level and what the various state rules are. On top of that, Silver said health care workers on the front lines have to be ‘taken care of before we begin talking about NBA players or sports.'”"
Some cause for encouragement, particularly for Bucks fans who are eager to see their team have a chance to finish off what was shaping up to be a potentially historic season, is the fact that Silver revealed there is no hard deadline for shutting down the current season permanently. In fact, as Youngmisuk detailed, delaying the start of next season isn’t out of the question either:
"“Silver said all options remain on the table for resuming the season, including potentially delaying the start of next season. He also said the NBA has been listening to all scenarios for how it can resume playing, including having teams isolated and playing without fans.”"
It’s clear that the NBA’s priority remains the health and welfare of its players and thousands of related workers, along with only moving toward playing again at a point when it would be socially responsible to do so. That approach can’t be faulted, but it will leave major obstacles in the way.
Whether it ever proves feasible for the 2019-20 season to pick up again is currently unclear but, at the very least, the league office seem prepared to give themselves every opportunity to find a potential solution.