Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Crowder: Don’t rush the return
Amid increasing hope of a resumption of the NBA season, Miami Heat forward Jae Crowder warned that a return amid the coronavirus pandemic cannot become rushed simply to sate fans’ hunger for live sports.
“I don’t want to feel like we have to rush because people are at home, not doing nothing, [and] they just want to watch us play basketball and watch us work,” Crowder said to former NBA forward Richard Jefferson on a SportsCenter Instagram Live session. “But I do want to get back out there.” The NBA has been idle since March 11, with Commissioner Adam Silver telling the NBA Board of Governors last week that a decision on resuming play might not come until June. Against that backdrop the league has reopened practice facilities
where allowed by local ordinances.
With the Heat stuck in time with a 41-24 record and the No. 4 playoff seed in the Eastern Conference, Crowder said the coaching staff and players routinely have discussed the possibility of a deep playoff run should there be a resumption.
But the defensive-minded forward acquired at the February NBA trading deadline said health concerns must supersede economic issues.
“I just want to be safe,” Crowder said. “Obviously I miss the game; we all miss the game. We love the work, but I want to be safe.
“Even though we’re missing out on a lot of money, from the league standpoint, from everybody taking pay cuts and things like that, I want everybody to be safe.”
The NBA remains at a stage where several teams have been unable to resume workouts.
“We are entertainment and we do have a job to do,” Crowder said. “Of course, I want the season to resume and see if we can crown a champion.
“But I just want protocols to have everybody on the same page and players satisfied with what the league comes up with, and we come together as a whole and try to get this thing back on.”
Among the options discussed for a resumption of play would be isolating players in a “bubble” type of setup to minimize the possibility of COVID-19 infection, or the more open “campus” approach mentioned by Silver, which would require vigilant testing for those who leave team quarters. Among proposals discussed is having teams bunched at limited playing sites, with Disney World and Las Vegas among those floated. The most likely outcome with the resumption of play would be games held in the absence of fans.
“We have families we have to come back to — you have to realize that,” Crowder said. “A lot of guys have kids. You have to worry about that. You have to put that into perspective.
“I’m in for coming back with the season as long as we have a few bulletin points from our players’ standpoint to get down with the league.”
Crowder, who has remained in South Florida during the NBA shutdown, was among the players to participate when the Heat’s workouts at AmericanAirlines Arena resumed Wednesday. The sessions are limited to one player per basket, with no more than four players at the practice facility at a time. Social distancing and other safety measures with masks and gloves are mandatory.
“I’m a vet now, so me and Udonis Haslem were on the court together,” Crowder, 29, said. “We worked out together for 40 minutes on the court, but we never came in contact with each other. We were always on different ends of the court, and that’s the way it’s going right now.
“We’re just trying to do the proper protocols to get back on the court.”