The National Basketball Association (NBA) has drawn praise for its strategic approach to brand building over the past 30 years. While football (and the NFL) reigns supreme, no league or sport has experienced a meteoric rise over the past 35-40 years like the NBA. Many credit former Commissioner David Stern with the explosive growth but the "Association" enjoys the seemingly never-ending blessing of charismatic stars such as Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant, and Lebron James. Frankly, that list is not even remotely exhaustive as I could spend hours naming players with either global brands or devoted fans.
The NBA found itself in the very unique space of suspending an active season during actual games. The league suspended play on March 11 as Utah Jazz forward Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19. The Jazz were scheduled to play the Oklahoma Thunder that night and both teams were warming up when the game got called.
Weird stuff. Stuff other leagues did not have to deal with in developing a COVID-19 plan. So the NBA must fashion a plan for moving forward. This proves difficult given the nature of the game. Basketball is a physical game where social distancing is nigh impossible. Players fighting for position or rebounds often result in small scrums of 3-5 people which will not work in a pandemic.
League (association?) sources recently revealed a 25 day return to play plan. Teams would host 11 day individual workouts followed by 14 days of 5 on 5 scrimmages. The regular season is probably over so teams would proceed directly to the playoffs which means developing a playoff structure. How many teams? The playoffs are normally comprised of best of 7 series. Do you keep the best of 7 model or do best of 5? What about best of 3 or even single elimination?
Financially, the NBA is closer to the NFL in revenue. It should weather this storm. Still, teams are paying the players and staff which means NBA leadership is on the clock like all other leagues.
COVID-19 has had an amazingly large impact on all of lives, even regarding entertainment. I personally love basketball. From 8th grade to my senior year of high school, I mopped the floor for the Dallas Mavericks and now attend games often. I also played for about 10 years, so I can feel the emotional impact of not having basketball around. I believe that the NBA should allow one or two more months of no games or practices. Having individual practices at first is a good start, and then having scrimmages for 14 days is good too. I also believe the NBA should not allow fans to attend for a while. For example, the American Airlines Center is very packed. The…
So many things are going on around this world with this virus. Yes, it could be deadly but it is only affecting people over the age of sixty-five. Yes us young ones might catch it, but we aren't going to die from it. This virus has shut down everything in the whole world, and now Trump wants to open up everything again? Hmm, seems like this whole pandemic is a hoax.
The Coronavirus has led sporting event organizers worldwide to cancel or postpone their events. There is no sport or country that is saved due to the enormous impact that the pandemic has had. As the days go by, events that looked like they could be saved are being canceled or rescheduled. Such is the case of the Tokyo Olympics Games that will take place a year later than planned and that we were all waiting for. It's really sad that we don't have that kind of entertainment these days when we're all at home and can't find what to watch on television.
Interesting read. Definitely crazy just how many aspects of normal live Covid-19 is changing. I think the hardest thing for businesses, sports associations, and even individuals is the lack of preparation/suddenness of everything that has happened. I am from Oklahoma, and many were tuned in on T.V. and at the actual arena that the above game between the Jazz and Thunder was happening. No one was prepared for the game to be canceled... until at the very last minute it was. It kind of feels the same regarding so many businesses and even classes. Of course we all have to find new ways of live - including athletes who have been training so hard for their games, or even the…
It really is interesting to see how basketball is dealing with this. They just had to deal with the death of Kobe Bryant and now they had to stop playing sports which is even harder. I remember that Rudy Gobert who tested positive was such a big deal on twitter and with the boys that I’m friends with. I honestly got so used to the guys watching basketball and going to their houses to watch games. It shows how big basketball is in peoples lives. I honestly think they need to finish the season of basketball. They’re going to lose so much money because they were expecting people to come to the games but it doesn’t happen like that anymore.