NOT OPTIMISTIC
Mavs owner thought NBA would be back in May, now he says that’s highly doubtful
Mark Cuban has raised the rim but is still hopeful about the NBA restarting because “sports are great for America.”
The Mavericks owner, who was once confident in the NBA resuming in May, acknowledged Wednesday that he has lost faith in that projection as the coronavirus spreads across the U.S.
“I don’t know the date and it won’t happen until we can be absolutely certain everybody can be safe,” Cuban said on ESPN. “It’s safety first, no ifs ands or buts about it. I’ve been optimistic it could happen before the start of June but who knows now. So we listen to the scientists.”
Cuban has been something of the NBA’s spokesman during the shutdown while making the rounds on network television. His overriding message has been that sports can rescue the country from its darkness.
In New York after 9/11, for instance, Mike Piazza’s homerun instilled pride.
“When we start to go from America 1.0 from where we’ve been to coming out of this with America 2.0 I think it’s a great opportunity and it’s a responsibility for the NBA to lead the way. We have that obligation,” Cuban said.
The billionaire added, “I really think we’ll have something (of a season). I really do. I don’t know how where or when. But I do think we’ll have a season. It’s just too important to the United States of America. We need sports, we need something to rally behind.”
Of course, the resumption is not totally in the NBA’s control. Even holding games without fans would require the approval of local governments that are currently outlawing social gatherings.
There will also be time constraints, and format restructuring. The league hasn’t ruled out extending the playoffs through August, and Cuban hopes that will serve as a trial to permanently move the schedule.
“Honestly it’s something I’ve been
asking for more than 10 years,” Cuban said. “I’ve always thought we should start on Christmas and go into the summer. But the response has always been that our television partners don’t want to because there are less people watching television in the summer months. But everything’s different now, especially if we continue to be quarantined. Then people are at home willing to watch the game. …I think it could really be a great experiment for us. And if it works out well we can continue to do it. But I really think it would work.”
Cuban also addressed the potential contentious issue of withholding 25% payment from players, an option available to the owners in the event of the season canceling due to a pandemic. The billionaire owners would be criticized for cutting salaries (the millionaire players shouldn’t garner the same sympathy as the arena workers), but Cuban warned that the optics are misleading in a financial crisis.
“I’m lucky. My financial situation is not going to change a whole lot one way or another. But every single owner is in a different financial position,” Cuban said. “I think people look at the owners and say, we own these multi-billion-dollar valued teams. But what they don’t realize – and I got this from one other owner – a lot of their other businesses are just getting destroyed. And if a source of income is now losses or maybe even bankruptcy, you have to take all those factors in consideration.”