BY RYAN MERARD
With games getting postponed left and right and multiple players testing positive for COVID-19, the National Basketball Association (NBA) seems to be struggling to keep the coronavirus under control, despite having a limited number of fans in the arenas.
Teams have frequently been forced to play with less than 10 players available, and it seems like every day, a notable star is forced to go into quarantine because of contact tracing, or the process of identifying who a person with COVID-19 has come in close contact with. Right now, the Boston Celtics are missing four players due to positive COVID-19 tests and contact tracing, including young star Jayson Tatum. The league is not even a full month into the season, and 9 games have already been postponed. At this rate, the number will just continue to grow.
Right now, the question arises: should the NBA just play out the rest of the season as it is and work around positive COVID-19 tests, or should they try to go into some sort of bubble and have stricter rules for players and their whereabouts?
Even though the precautionary “bubble” proved to be successful for last year’s playoffs, many players are against the idea of being contained in one area for a period of time.
Even though the precautionary “bubble” proved to be successful for last year’s playoffs, many players are against the idea of being contained in one area for a period of time.
George Hill of the Oklahoma City Thunder expressed his thoughts on the current lockdown rules, saying that he’s “…a grown man. I’m gonna do what I want to do. If I want to go see my family, I’m going to go see my family, they can’t tell me I have to stay in a room 24/7.”
LeBron James also showed his disinterest by stating that he gets “PTSD” everytime he thinks of a possibility of another bubble setting. Aaron Gordon poked fun at the idea of playing in a bubble, saying that he would only “be cool with a bubble if it was in the Bahamas or Hawaii and we got to bring our family, wife or girlfriend.”
Okay, so throw the “bubble” idea out the window.
At first, postponing the season for a couple weeks or even a month seems like the best option. They have already been challenged by the coronavirus before the season even started with 48 positive tests being reported during training camps, so having players making constant flights across the nation during a pandemic would continuously make the situation worse, right?
A pause to help neutralize the spread of the virus within the league would have both its benefits and its difficulties. For example, if the NBA decides to give their players a break, would it be right to place heavy protocols and limitations when the players are comfortably residing in their hometowns? The league would likely treat the break as an offseason, where players are under no rules and can roam wherever they want. Without any rules, there would be more players infected with the virus and this means that the players would increase the spread of the virus even more in their communities.
As crazy as it sounds, it may be best to continue to play the rest of the season as it is and deal with whatever comes their way.
So what should the league do when players are not interested in playing in a bubble, and a hiatus could actually lead to more positive cases? As crazy as it sounds, it may be best to continue to play the rest of the season as it is and deal with whatever comes their way. Entering the season with a pandemic, it was clear that these types of challenges would be present. Sports fans saw the same thing happening in the National Football League (NFL), where the Denver Broncos team had to place a wide receiver at the quarterback position because all the original quarterbacks were out due to COVID-19 tracing protocols.
It may be sad to see stars having to miss games because of contact tracing, but the safety and health of the players should always be a priority, including mental health. If a player catches the virus, they go home and quarantine for two weeks. Seems simple, because it is and should be.
Games have been postponed because of this, but it is important to note that these games will be played eventually. The league should definitely try to place tighter protocols on players as they travel around the country if they are able to. Regardless of what they do, the league should continue to carry out the season while following protocols, not because it is ideal but because it is the option that fits best with the players’ and executives’ desires.
Photo courtesy of The Ringer
