Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports

LeBron James dismisses notion NBA season should be canceled

By Blake Harper | Last updated 4/30/20

LeBron James responded to reports that some NBA execs and player agents want the league to cancel the season, emphatically stating that the NBA should return as soon as it's safe.

Saw some reports about execs and agents wanting to cancel season??? That’s absolutely not true. Nobody I know saying anything like that. As soon as it’s safe we would like to finish our season. I’m ready and our team is ready. Nobody should be canceling anything.
— LeBron James (@KingJames) April 30, 2020

The debate over bringing back the NBA has heated up over the last few days, with both optimists and skeptics weighing in. For the most part, players have kept silent about the status of the season, but now the most popular player in the world has publicly stated that he is fully in favor of the league not canceling the season.

The big caveat continues to be safety, as it remains unclear if the league could even find a way to continue the season that ensured the health and safety of everyone involved. Some teams are reportedly planning to start practices back up again in states that are easing out of quarantine in May, but that has been met with a good amount of pushback due to the concerns over safety.

If the NBA can figure out a way to resume play in a safe manner — which would likely involve games being played in a single location in front of no fans — LeBron has made it clear he expects the league to do so.

Unsurprisingly, the tweet has been met with enthusiasm by fans who are every bit as desperate for sports to come back as the players are. A few former players even weighed in, including Richard Jefferson, who noted the significance of the tweet, since "the NBPA has a lot of say so in this."