Offseason looking like no easy layup
Despite success of bubble, league faces big questions
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — The season’s first big development came with the Lakers on a long road trip, in a place with very restrictive rules. The season’s last big development came with the Lakers on a longer road trip, in a place with very restrictive rules.
From China to Disney, this was an NBA season like none other — and quite probably like none ever again.
The NBA offseason has officially started, the bubble at Walt Disney World is closed and the Lakers have their 17th championship.
But while a difficult season is over, the difficulties the league and players face are not. The coronavirus pandemic is still raging. The players fight against racial inequality and their quest for social justice, which were top priorities of this NBA restart, continue. And while nobody knows when the next NBA game is, the Lakers’ LeBron James began looking forward during the trophy ceremony celebrating his fourth title.
“We all want to see better days,” James said. “And when we leave here, we’ve got to continue to push that ... continue to push for everything that’s the opposite of love. If we can continue to do that, America will be a much better place.”
The priority, for the last seven months, was getting through the pandemic safely and salvaging the season. That happened; a champion was crowned, a bubble was built and nobody tested positive for three months inside that NBA campus in large part because of extremely tight regulations surrounding conduct and safety. Now comes a quick pivot toward figuring out all things for next season.
Not everything was unexpected this season: The Lakers weren’t a surprise champion, the Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo wasn’t a surprise to win his second consecutive MVP award, the Rockets’ James Harden wasn’t a surprise to be the scoring champion for the third year in a row.
That’s not to say there were no surprises: the Heat became the first No. 5 seed to reach the NBA Finals, the Warriors lost practically everyone to injury and plummeted to the bottom of the league in what basically was a reset year, the Spurs weren’t in the playoffs for the first time in 23 years and Doc Rivers — long considered one of the league’s best coaches — got fired by the Clippers, then quickly hired by the 76ers.
But this year will be remembered for the shocking developments: The conflict between the NBA and China that started last October; the death of commissioner emeritus David Stern on Jan. 1; the death of Kobe Bryant on Jan. 26; and then the shutdown of the season on March 11.
What happens next is largely up to NBACommissioner Adam Silver and National Basketball Players Association executive director Michele Roberts.
Other entities will be involved, but they’re the two leaders who found a way to get this season done and now are tasked with making next season happen.
“We can’t thank the NBA enough for this whole experience,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “This has just been extraordinary.”
Chances are, whatever happens next will have to be extraordinary as well.