Adam Silver: Coronavirus outbreak among players may force NBA to cancel season
While Florida posts alarmingly high coronavirus cases daily as the NBA prepares to send teams and personnel to the ESPN Wild World of Sports Complex for its 22-team model to crown a champion for the 2019-20 season, commissioner Adam Silver has admitted an outbreak among even one team could cause the league to postpone or cancel play.
As noted by ESPN's Malika Andrews and Tim Bontemps, Bleacher Report's Howard Beck and Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Silver discussed this reality while speaking with reporters Friday afternoon:
Silver did say one positive test on a squad wouldn't prevent that team from competing, and that a single case would be treated similarly to an injury:
He also admitted the NBA may have chosen a different site knowing everything the league knows as of June 26. Silver added that league owners and the National Basketball Players Association have to discuss protocols for if one team or several clubs experience a worrisome outbreak in Florida:
The fate of the campaign has been in question for weeks after it was learned that Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving, who won't play in Florida as he recovers from a March operation, and pockets of players were questioning the merit of quarantining and playing amid the coronavirus pandemic and the social justice demonstrations that continue in the United States and around the world following the killing of George Floyd.
The Athletic's Shams Charania confirmed on Thursday that NBA teams will begin arriving at the Florida complex on July 7 to prepare for a season scheduled to tip off on July 30:
Both Florida and Texas paused reopening procedures and limited indoor access to bars on Friday because of COVID-19 concerns, per Politico.
Morehouse College has canceled its fall sports programs, while SEC insider Paul Finebaum said during a Friday ESPN appearance there is a "very good" chance the kickoff of the college football season will be delayed because of the pandemic.
With the virus as uncontrolled in Florida and throughout the country today as it was when states shut down during the spring, even so-called "bubble" sites no longer appear safe for those asked to risk their health to entertain audiences watching from the safety of their homes.
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