League will unveil new look in COVID-19 era
Players not sitting on benches and broadcasters not at courtside will be among the changes when the NBA returns today.
There’s no bench. The courtside broadcasters will not be courtside. And the stat crew will be doing their work inside what loosely can be described as an oversized hockey penalty box.
The NBA comes back Wednesday with a very different look.
The league’s marketing motto for the restart of the season at Walt Disney World is “Whole New Game,” and in many respects, that’s very true. The arenas that will be used for the exhibitions, the seeding games that start July 30 and then the playoffs that are scheduled for mid-August through mid-October set up much differently than usual — all with safety during a pandemic very much in mind.
Los Angeles Clippers coach Doc Rivers said league officials have been great, “they really have been. They’ve done everything right as far as I’m concerned.
“I mean, when you think that we’re running a village for the
most critical tests as 90man rosters attempt to stay healthy while preparing to play a game that requires close contact nearly all the time.
“We could have a ton of social distance, more than we have with our football team,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid says. “It’s all set up with monitors and everything else. Then the testing, these guys are going to be tested often. It’ll be good that way. There’s a responsibility for coaches and players to make sure we handle ourselves right when we’re away from it. We are still keeping as much social distance as we can. It’s a contact sport, but when there’s no contact we’re going to keep our distance.”
The NFL has been studying the approaches of other sports, seeing the success NASCAR and the PGA Tour have experienced with their traveling shows, and the many issues Major League Baseball has dealt with. But auto racing, golf and baseball don’t involve close-quarters action from beginning to end.
Thus, the elimination of exhibition games, which went from four to an owners’ proposal of two and then to none — though the players’ association, which proposed no preseason contests, still must approve the league’s offer. That’s one of many steps that will cost those owners millions, but a necessary one.
The business of pro football will take a major hit, with ramifications extending into next year and beyond, affecting salary caps and contract negotiations and, of course, bottom lines in a league that has $15 billion in revenues. Or did.
Still, plenty of NFL business has taken place since mid-March, when the coronavirus led to nationwide shutdowns.
Tampa Bay Tom
In a normal year, Tom Brady’s switch from the Patriots to the Buccaneers would have overridden every NFL story, from early winter through the spring and summer and into his debut against fellow 40-something QB Drew Brees and the Saints in September.
Perhaps the biggest headlines Brady drew recently came when he defied players’ union recommendations to cease informal practices with teammates as a coronavirus precaution.
Mahomes Money
The Chiefs vowed they would pay star quarterback Patrick Mahomes, locking him up long term. Does 10 years for potentially $500 million work? Yes, half a billion dollars.
Not that he is in Mahomes’ class, but Dallas QB Dak Prescott wound up with the one-year franchise tag salary of $31.4 million, hardly a pittance. The Cowboys could wind up the losers here, though, with quarterback pay now stretching beyond the stratosphere thanks to Mahomes setting the bar so high.
New Faces
The pandemic could lead to teams that remained relative intact (Chiefs, Saints, Bills, Titans, Ravens, 49ers) having a major advantage over those experiencing upheaval.
That’s particularly true where coaching changes were made: Mike McCarthy in Dallas, Ron Rivera in Washington, Matt Rhule in Carolina, Kevin Stefanski in Cleveland, and Joe Judge with the Giants. The last three have never been head coaches in the NFL.
Stars making big adjustments could include Brady and another longtime standout quarterback, Philip Rivers, now in Indianapolis; running back Todd Gurley in Atlanta; receiver DeAndre Hopkins in Arizona; tight end Jason Witten in Seattle; safety Malcolm Jenkins in New Orleans; defensive end Calais Campbell in Baltimore; and linebacker Robert Quinn in Chicago.
Not to mention the humongous jump from college ball for the likes of top overall selection QB Joe Burrow in Cincinnati, defensive stud Chase Young in Washington, and the rest of a draft class that has yet to take a formal snap with their teams.
Social Justice
Ever since Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the national anthem to protest social injustice, the NFL has been slammed for being blind to the message Kaepernick and many fellow players were trying to deliver. In this year of racial reckoning, there has been an awakening across much of the league.
Right now, the NFL is planning to allow players to have decals on the back of their helmets bearing names or initials of victims of systemic racism and police violence. Trying to catch up, the league has gotten involved in earnest with initiatives that its players have sought or inaugurated over the past few years.
And, not to be overlooked, the Washington football team will have a new nickname very soon.
AP Pro Football Writers Rob Maaddi and Simmi Buttar and Sports Writer Dave Skretta contributed. More AP NFL: https://apnews.com/NFL and https://twitter.com/AP—NFL