Virus angst bubbling over
Chaotic start to season prompts coach to call for play to be halted
Europe’s top basketball league features teams from 10 countries navigating COVID-19 cases, international travel restrictions and last-minute postponements. It makes the NBA bubble look like a walk in the amusement park.
NBA great Tony Parker’s team in France has played only half of its scheduled games in the EuroLeague. The chaotic start prompted Milan coach Ettore Messina to call for the season to be suspended until March or April.
“As for now, the only logical choice seems to be to put on hold the European competition and allow the national leagues to finish their season(s) in the next four months since incountry travelling will be easier,” Messina, a former assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs, wrote in an open letter Monday.
The 18-team EuroLeague, like soccer’s Champions League, is a season-long tournament among the continent’s top clubs who also play domestic schedules.
The league cancelled its 201920 season in May.
International tournaments could resume in March or April, Messina said, when the coronavirus might be under control “or shut down.” They could finish in time for Olympic preparations, he added.
Adding the EuroCup, Europe’s second-tier basketball competition, 15 countries are represented. That doesn’t count separate FIBA competitions.
Before the EuroLeague’s season launched this month, league president Jordi Bertomeu said there was a Plan B that includes a bubble for a worstcase scenario. But on Monday, the league said it is not entertaining Messina’s proposal.
Through six rounds, only half of the clubs have played a full schedule. Zenit St. Petersburg has played only twice after eight players and several coaches tested positive in early October.