A major league ripoff
High price to see G League talent insulting to fans
Sympathy or derision?
How you feel about the mega-rich NBA as it deals with runaway COVID infections probably depends on how you feel in general about the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the recent Omicron surge and how individuals and governments are responding, or not responding.
Some feel not enough is being done and big trouble lies ahead. Others insist it’s all overkill and fake news.
All sports leagues are dealing with COVID, but the NBA is just getting hammered, with the Toronto Raptors right at the centre of the virus onslaught. On Sunday night, the Raptors were without10 players because of COVID protocols, and needed to sign four emergency G League callups just to have the league minimum eight players for a game in Cleveland.
It wasn’t as absurd as putting in the Zamboni driver to play goal for the visiting team, but it was close. Then again, at least David Ayres got the win. The Raps lost by 45 points, the second-worst defeat in team history. It wasn’t a surprise given that their missing players represented about 80 points a game.
If you’re concerned about the competitive integrity of the NBA, particularly at a time when single game sports betting is on the rise, the Raps-Cavs game should never have been played.
It was an insult to those who bought tickets to describe the visitors as the NBA Raptors, although it didn’t seem to stop fans in Cleveland from whooping it up as the Cavaliers pounded on their defenceless opponent.
The NBA is in serious distress at the moment. As of Monday, there were 100 NBA players sidelined by COVID protocols, more than onethird of the league’s players. Nine games, including three involving the Raptors, had been postponed. On Christmas Day in what was supposed to be a marquee matchup, the Celtics took on the reigning NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks with a skeleton roster of only eight players, and lost.
There are “ghost” teams filled with G League players everywhere across the league. The Celtics were forced to sign 40-year-old Joe Johnson, who hadn’t played in the league in three years. For the Raptors, a team that had to play last season out of Orlando and recently announced it will play its home games to 50 per cent capacity with no food or drink permitted, Sunday’s debacle in Cleveland was just the latest way in which the franchise has been kneecapped by the pandemic.
The open question is whether the NBA should be playing at all, churning out a sub-standard product at premium prices. There appears to be, however, no appetite to shut down, even temporarily. Indeed, the league and players union have reportedly agreed that some asymptomatic or non-infectious players to clear protocols sooner than before, apparently a decision that’s in line with new recommendations from the national Centers for Disease Control. Essentially, instead of doing more testing and adding more protections, the NBA appears to be looking at ways of making it easier for infected players to play.
The NBA is not alone in its misery. The NFL has had 400 positive tests this month after having 262 all of last season. On Sunday, the Washington Football Team had to go into Dallas with only four days rest after their previous game had been shifted one day forward because of COVID. Just days before, Washington had 26 players on the COVID list and were no match for the powerful Cowboys, who led 21-0 in the first quarter and won 56-14.
For their crucial Monday night tilt with Miami, the New Orleans Saints were expected to have 21 players on the COVID list, and were scheduled to start third-string quarterback Ian Book for his first NFL game.
The Baltimore Ravens had18 players test positive over 12 days leading up to their showdown with Cincinnati on Sunday, and had to start 35-year-old Josh Johnson at quarterback after signing him to a contract only 10 days earlier. The Ravens were beaten handily.
The NHL has so far avoided these kinds of questionable scenarios by not playing at all since getting one game in between Vegas and Tampa Bay last Tuesday. The league hopes to resume this week, but has already postponed Toronto’s game with Pittsburgh on Wednesday, two games between Colorado and Dallas this week and one between the Jets and Blackhawks in Winnipeg.
The Jets also announced they won’t allow any fans at home games until at least Jan. 11. The NHL and its union, meanwhile, have enacted new rules allowing extra players to be used on taxi squads if necessary.
In this overall sports landscape, you can, if you wish, applaud the Raptors for simply getting on with it on Sunday in Cleveland. But that game set a very low bar for what constitutes meaningful competition in North America’s four major pro sports. That’s on the NBA, not the teams involved.
Sure, it was a nice opportunity for the G League callups who got to play for Toronto, and Cleveland’s Kevin Pangos got to play 16 minutes against what is essentially his hometown team. Otherwise, what was accomplished in what was essentially the Globetrotters against the Washington Generals?
By deciding to be open for business, you’re making a commitment to give the customer reasonable value for their dollars. If you buy tickets to see the Stones, it would be unacceptable to show up to find neither Mick Jagger nor Keith Richards on stage. If either Mick or “Keef” were available, well, you might have an argument for the show to go on even with Charlie Watts having taken his drum kit to the big band in the sky.
The NBA, however, didn’t offer any kind of reasonable value on Sunday in Cleveland, and knew that was going to be the case before the game was permitted to be played. Refunds should be in order.