LeBron, top execs reject notion that the season is over
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr says his team is operating in full “offseason mode” with the NBA season suspended because of the coronavirus threat.
That view clearly isn’t universally shared around the league.
NBA team presidents met Thursday and emerged with belief that there are still ways to resume the season, and Dallas owner Mark Cuban also expressed optimism that the league will find a way out of the shutdown.
“Every intention is to return to play and try to create the best environment we can for the league and for the fans,” San Antonio Spurs CEO R.C. Buford said after participating in the call with top team officials. “And we’re all on board for that.”
Team presidents around the league hold regular calls, as do general managers, and those calls have continued during the league’s shutdown. Thursday’s call was not organized for any specific reason.
The NBA has been shut down since March 11 and 259 regular season games have yet to be played. It remains unclear if any of those games would be rescheduled should the league resume play, or if the NBA would opt to go directly into the postseason.
If a season restart would begin with the playoffs, the Warriors have nothing to worry about. Golden State was the only team in the league that had officially been eliminated when play stopped. Kerr said Tuesday on a video conference call that his team will be ready for whatever the league decides, but conceded that “It’s different for us because we were down to 17 games, but we were out of the playoffs. It feels like the end of the season for our team. It just does.”
A report on CNBC on Thursday, citing anonymous sources, suggested team executives and player agents are calling on the NBA to cancel the rest of this season and focus on preparing to play next season.
LeBron James, whose Lakers are leading the Western Conference and would be a favorite to win the Finals, responded via Twitter by cautioning the NBA against canceling the season.
“Saw some reports about execs and agents wanting to cancel season??? That’s absolutely not true. Nobody I know saying anything like that. As soon as it’s safe we would like to finish our season. I’m ready and our team is ready. Nobody should be canceling anything,” James wrote.
Cuban, speaking to CNN, said he’s “cautiously optimistic” that the season could resume — albeit in empty buildings.
Buford said the teams and league officials are discussing countless options, none of which have been finalized and none of which have been detailed specifically by the NBA. Commissioner Adam Silver has said the league has been open to any idea thrown its way about when, where and how to resume.
Those talks are continuing, with no plans to abandon them anytime soon. Some teams could reopen their practice facilities for voluntary workouts as early as May 8.
“It is the responsibility of the league office to explore all options for a return to play this season,” NBA spokesman Mike Bass said. “We owe that to our fans, teams, players, partners and all who love the game.”