What's Next For the NBA?

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March 11, 2020 is a day that will be remembered by basketball fans all across the world. It was on this day that Rudy Gobert, Utah Jazz center and 2-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year, became the first NBA player to test positive for COVID-19. Gobert’s positive result put players he came in contact with at risk of contracting the disease and caused the NBA to suspend the season indefinitely. It’s April 21, more players have contracted the disease, and there’s still no timetable for the league’s return. This league shutdown has implications for fans, players & teams, and the league overall that have never been seen before. There is still over 20% of the season left to be played and the uncertainty surrounding the league has many people wondering what the future for the NBA holds. 


Utah Jazz Center Rudy Gobert COVID-19
Utah Jazz center, Rudy Gobert, became the first player to test positive for COVID-19
Fans

The NBA and Sports Media have done everything they can to try and fulfill the demand for basketball content in today’s society. Through a HORSE competition featuring NBA and WNBA stars and an NBA 2k20 tournament hosted on ESPN, basketball content is not extinct. However real NBA games cannot be replicated and these efforts aren’t very close. Watching a washed-up Paul Pierce compete in a game of HORSE against a younger, much more athletic Zach Lavine over a spotty internet connection does not even remotely come close to watching Giannis Antetokounmpo or Lebron James lead their teams night-in and night-out during the NBA season. I feel for the fans that had already purchased tickets to see their favorite player for the first time that will now miss that opportunity.

Players & Teams

For teams like the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers, this shutdown could not have come at a worse time. Leading their respective conferences and looking like real championship contenders, an indefinite shutdown of the league is the worst thing that could have happened to them. There is some serious inequity with the shutdown and the extent to which players are staying in shape. Some players, like Joel Embiid, have access to training facilities and gyms, whereas Jayson Tatum hasn’t trained in weeks. This will be interesting to monitor when the season resumes, as a potential month-long training camp is a realistic possibility before the season resumes. The shutdown could have a huge effect on the eventual 2020 NBA champion. You have teams like the Brooklyn Nets, who have two-star players in Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant who are both injured. It would be quite the story if they both became healthy enough to play for the completion of the regular season and playoffs and made a deep run. However, in today’s load-management, player-first era, it looks unlikely that the pair would risk their long-term health for one potential playoff run.

NBA 2K20 on ESPN Kevin Durant and Derrick Jones Jr.
Kevin Durant and Derrick Jones Jr. play NBA 2k20 on ESPN

On the bright side, the league shutdown has given players an opportunity to pursue other interests outside of basketball. Many players, including Matisse Thybulle and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, have turned to TikTok to grow their fanbases. Others, like Devin Booker and Meyers Leonard, have been consistently playing and streaming video games for their fans’ entertainment.

League

With a whopping 259 games left in the 2019-20 NBA regular season, there’s a lot of uncertainty surrounding the future of the league. Restructuring the NBA season will have an impact on the future of the league for years to come. If the season resumes with a month-long training camp in late May or June, then completes the regular season and/or the playoffs, this will have an effect on a plethora of NBA events, including the NBA Draft, free agency, and more. This will eventually result in a later start of the 2020-21 season starting a “new normal” for the season or a shortened season getting the league back on its historical schedule.

A year without the NBA playoffs would be tragic for so many people. Fans wouldn’t have entertainment and players wouldn’t be able to compete for the accolade they’ve worked their whole lives for, however, the biggest loss might be taken by the league and media networks. The NBA playoffs account for over 60% of the season’s ad revenue, totaling nearly $250 million. Teams across the league will also lose hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue from ticket sales in the regular season and postseason. But, in the end, the safety of players, fans, and everyone else comes first and basketball comes second.

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