USA TODAY International Edition
This year’s NBA champ deserves ! and not *
Whichever team wins an NBA championship this season does not deserve to have an asterisk attached. That team deserves to have an exclamation point.
Yes, the season might be abbreviated. Yes, the playoffs might not feature best- of- seven series. Yes, the postseason will not reveal which team became most equipped to handle a hostile road environment, since they won’t play in front of fans.
Nothing about the NBA’s 20019- 20 season is normal. That became a reality as soon as the NBA suspended play on March 11 after Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for the novel coronavirus. When the NBA holds a Board of Governors meeting on Friday, they will presumably offer more clarity on how and when they will resume play, likely at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida.
In no way should circumstances, however, diminish the significance of this season’s NBA championship. Former NBA star Shaquille O’Neal recently argued otherwise to USA TODAY’s For the Win saying, “any team that wins this year, there’s an asterisk; they’re not going to get the respect.”
If anything, though, this year’s NBA champion should receive even more respect.
All NBA teams have already played more regular- season games than in the lockout shortened 1999 season ( a 50- game campaign). Another lockout resulted in a 66- game season in 201112. Every team this season has played between 63- 67 games. Additionally, whichever team hoists the Larry O’Brien Trophy this year will have overcome obstacles that no other NBA team has ever faced.
Teams went nearly 21⁄ months with
2 out having any formal practices or scrimmages. Teams may have benefited with the extra time for players to rest their legs, but they suffered with the halting of momentum they created for the first five months of the season. They became further tested on how to maintain a disciplined diet and experienced additional anxiety regarding the health of their loved ones.
That explains why Clippers coach Doc Rivers has stressed to his team “to win the wait.” How teams master that challenge will likely play a major factor in determining who wins the NBA championship.
Which players with the financial means completed individual workouts at their private gym where they could shoot, dribble and run without any restrictions? Which of the other players kept a consistent training routine on Zoom, in the backyard or at the practice facilities when they opened? Which players strengthened their mental wellness with consistent yoga, meditation and sleep? Which players fostered team chemistry through FaceTime, group texts and phone calls? Which players and coaches prepared the most by studying game footage of themselves and other teams?
Granted, more important matters loom than how NBA teams prepare for a possible restart. More than 100,000 people in the United States have died from COVID- 19. Almost 40 million people have become unemployed. And questions remain on if the NBA should even resume its season, anyway.
If it does, though, whichever team wins the NBA championship this season will likely credit how it spent its time when the league halted play. That team will see how those circumstances tested and shaped its journey. And it will have further appreciation for holding the trophy after overcoming those various obstacles.
None of which warrants that team receiving an asterisk, unless that is to signal a detailed appreciation for what it took to prevail through the league’s most challenging season.