Paused by the coronavirus pandemic, every professional sports league faces the same question but has no answer: When will there be games again?
The NBA was the first to stop play and did so under dramatic and swift circumstances.
Right before tip-off of a game March 11 in Oklahoma City, the basketball league learned Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19.
The Jazz-Thunder game was called off, and shortly after NBA Commissioner Adam Silver suspended the entire season.
“I don’t think it sounds overly dramatic to say Adam Silver saved many lives by that decision that night because he was the first one to step forward,” said Mike Breen the play-by-play voice of the NBA on ABC and ESPN.
Before Gobert’s positive test and Silver’s decision, all kinds of precautionary scenarios were being discussed by the NBA and other sports leagues.
The NBA had already limited locker room access and social distancing was being practiced during interviews with the media conducted 6 feet apart.
“Everybody wanted to continue to play more games for more days even if it was without fans, that was going to be the plan,” Breen said.
“Once he (Silver) made that decision, that put pressure on everybody else to follow suit.
“It’s another reminder of how fortunate we are that (the) NBA is in Silver’s hands because we have trust and faith he will always do the right thing.”
Sure enough, the NBA’s suspension of its season triggered other sports to start to change either through indefinite postponements or significant delays to events and tournaments.
There is no precedent for this and because of that, there is no playbook for how the NBA and other professional sports leagues begin to compete again.
Silver has already announced that the NBA would not speculate about its future plans or make announcements in the month of April. That is not to say on May 1 there will be an answer.
The only thing that is certain, the NBA wants to find a way to complete this season.
But that is dependent on progress in getting the coronavirus outbreak under control.
“They (NBA) are desperate to get the playoffs in, but not to the point where if there is any sort of danger that would impact one player, they won’t do it,” Breen said.
“I am confident that Adam Silver is not going to go forward with any kind of games, workouts or anything until he is told 100% from the health medical experts that it is OK and that nobody is any kind of danger.”
While the wait for the NBA and other sports to resume continues, it has offered a forced time of reflection.
The dramatic moments, excitement and thrill of top-level competition are missed by players and fans, but sports is also a community and like all other communities is currently separated.
“It really is all about the relationships,” Breen said.
“For me, this has really hammered it home. It’s the relationships that makes us go.
“It is not calling the buzzer-beater in a big time game, it is the people that you establish relationships with along the way that I miss the most.”
