TIME IS NOT ON THEIR SIDE
TH ESE POWERHOUSE CLUBS WERE PRIMED TO CHALLENGE FOR A TITLE THIS YEAR, BUT WITH THE CO VID -19 CLOCK TICKING, THEIR WINDOWS ARE CLOSING FAST
The hope of sports fans everywhere is that the COVID- 19 pandemic doesn’t completely wipe out either what’s left of, or entire 2020 campaigns. None of North America’s leagues are coming back anytime soon though and it sure feels like the odds favour cancellation vs. returns, despite the NFL releasing a full schedule. Again, we hope sports can be played, but with all of the difficulties of that happening in mind, here are top teams from the Big Four leagues that we think would suffer the most from losing their seasons (in no particular order):
So, you’ve traded about a thousand future first- round picks, a probable repeat allstar in Shai Gilgeous- Alexander and a quality starter in Danilo Gallinari and you’re one of the best bets to win the NBA title. You’d feel pretty good, despite the huge cost of acquiring Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. Well, not if you’ve lost 50 per cent of your shot at the titles you coveted so much that you gave up the biggest war chest in league history for a crack at them. But if 2019-20 ends here, the Clippers will have as little as one more season to win before both Leonard and George can decide to opt out of their contracts and head elsewhere. Now, would both Los Angeles natives really bail after fulfilling their dreams of coming home? Maybe not, but with Leonard, everyone knows that anything is possible. Losing this season would truly suck for Steve Ballmer’s franchise.
The NBA’S marquee franchise was rolling, with an ageless wonder and a newage superstar leading the way. They had emerged as the betting favourite to bring Los Angeles its first NBA championship in a decade. Lebron James was taking aim at a fifth MVP award and Anthony Davis was at the peak of his powers, playing at close to an MVP level himself. The embarrassing six- year playoff drought was going to be over and, rallying around the tragic death of Kobe Bryant, the players had seemed extra motivated to honour the franchise icon. How do you bet against James and Davis in any playoff series? But do you feel as confident next year, when James will be 36? He can only keep this superhuman act up for so long. Plus there’s the fact that Davis has not made a longterm commitment to the Lakers. A 2019-20 title could have gone a long way toward getting that agreement written in stone.
The NHL leaders in points, wins, goal differential and fewest goals against are absolute juggernauts. The Bruins have one of the best lines in hockey, one of the best goalies and defensive corps and, importantly, are battle-tested. They’d be Stanley Cup favourites, and for good reason. Losing the Cup final in seven games last year was bad enough. Not getting the chance to bounce back with the squad to do it? Now that’s just cruel. Plus much of the veteran core that complements the young studs so well is nearing the end of its prime, or is out of it entirely.
Milwaukee Bucks
When you have the best player in the NBA, you have to seize every opportunity to keep him happy. Especially when Giannis Antetokounmpo can choose to leave in the summer of 2021 should he be fine with turning down a bunch of extra millions. The Bucks blew a glorious chance to win it all last season when the Raptors rallied from a 2- 0 series deficit against them in the Eastern Conference final, but came back with a vengeance in 2019-20, leading the league with a 53-12 record. A 17- 0 finish would have allowed the Bucks to become just the third team to ever win 70 games and though that wouldn’t have happened, Milwaukee was a strong title contender again, with younger legs than the Los Angeles teams. No NBA return until 2020-21 would mean the franchise would be down to one season to convince Antetokounmpo to stick around long-term.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
If your quarterback is turning 43 in August, your team is on borrowed time, even if he’s the great Tom Brady. Tampa Bay is usually an NFL afterthought. The franchise has made the playoffs only 10 times, with wins in only six of those 15 post- season games ( three of them coming in a surprising 2002 run to Super Bowl glory) and no appearances since 2007. This was their chance to be relevant for once. Vegas had them with the sixth- best Super Bowl odds ( tied with a couple of other teams) and when’s the last time that happened? Brady brought a buzz with his two- year, US$ 50 million signing. If the season doesn’t happen, half of that $ 50 million will have gone up in smoke. They’ll only have Brady under contract for one more season. Tampa also added Brady pal and top target Rob Gronkowski. Also, losing a year would suck for Bill Belichick and New England, who want to prove that Brady only had so much to do with all of their success.
Kansas City Chiefs
The defending Super Bowl champions are the favourites to win the NFL title again. Winning last year would definitely help soothe any pain of not getting a chance to repeat (so maybe the San Francisco 49ers, who blew that big game but were bringing back a still- excellent roster, should be here instead), but when you have the league’s best player — which most would agree QB Patrick Mahomes is — you want to maximize your opportunities to win rings. You never want to waste them, because injuries can happen, other powers can emerge and some members of the roster — most notably star tight end Travis Kelce — are getting up there a bit in age (as is head coach Andy Reid, who is 62 and finally won his first Super Bowl).
Los Angeles Dodgers Sure, they didn’t give up much to the Boston Red Sox to obtain superstar Mookie Betts, but if he never plays for the Dodgers (a possibility, since he’s only under contract through 2020), suddenly that’s a terrible deal for them. Plus they have 12 players aged 32 or older, many on the pitching staff. It’s been more than 30 years since the team’s last World Series win. This has been one of Major League Baseball’s best squads for years now, but they have yet to get over the top. That might have changed in 2020. The New York Yankees are another team (and the only one Vegas likes more than the Dodgers) with an aging roster (though they also have a lot of quality youngsters) and a huge payroll that had a great shot at breaking a World Series drought of its own ( though theirs is only since 2009).