Charles Barkley: '100 percent sure' NBA season will finish amid pandemic

In April, Hall of Famer and current Turner Sports analyst Charles Barkley publicly supported the NBA canceling the 2019-20 NBA season, which was suspended on March 11 after Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for the coronavirus.

As Robbie Weinstein of 247Sports wrote, Barkley gave fans hope they'll see an NBA champion crowned this summer while speaking on the "Paul Finebaum Show" on Memorial Day:

"We’re gonna make a decision in the next week. I'm 100 percent sure we’re going to play. I know my friends in Major League Baseball are going to play. I know that the (NHL) is going to play. … I do know this, talking to my bosses at Turner: We’re going to play basketball. It is gonna be in Florida and Vegas, or just Florida."

Barkley added that there remain concerns about keeping players safe even if every one of them and all team personnel test negative for the coronavirus and agree to quarantine on a campus for several months: 

"I’m like, ‘Well, are the maids gonna be in the hotel for two or three months?’ The maids are gonna go home every day. What about the people in room service? They’re gonna go home every day. So it’s just a lot of unanswered questions."

On Friday evening, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported that some players and teams want to journey directly to so-called "bubble sites" such as Orlando's Walt Disney World or Las Vegas rather than first train at reopened club facilities. 

Wojnarowski added that players could be asked to quarantine and self-isolate for up to two weeks before training-camp sessions begin ahead of the resumed campaign. 

Since the NBA and National Basketball Players Association haven't agreed to terms for the remainder of the season, it's not known if all teams, specifically those realistically out of the championship hunt, will participate in summer games. 

An NBA Board of Governors call is scheduled for this Friday.