Americans return as Chinese basketball league eyes resumption

BEIJING (Reuters) – American basketball players, including Jeremy Lin, have started returning to China in anticipation of the resumption of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) season, which was suspended because of the coronavirus outbreak.

Local media reports said the league, which was brought to a halt on February 1, is looking to resume on April 15, even though it has yet to receive the necessary clearance from China’s General Administration of Sport.

Mainland China, where the coronavirus broke out late last year, reported zero locally transmitted cases of the disease for the third day running on Saturday.

The pandemic has forced the shut down of most professional sport around the world. North America’s National Basketball Association (NBA) suspended its season on March 12 after a Utah Jazz player tested positive for the virus.

Around 40 American and other foreigners play in the 20-team CBA league and all will have to undergo 14 days of quarantine after their return to China.

Lin, who famously sparked what became known as “Linsanity” while playing for the New York Knicks in the 2012/13 NBA season, posted a picture of himself on the Great Wall north of the Chinese capital on Friday.

“Safely landed back in Beijing to finish out the CBA season!” the Beijing Ducks point guard wrote in an accompanying message on Instagram.

“Excited to hoop again, but leaving the bay worried and with a heavy heart for the sick, the jobless and all those fighting fear, anxiety and stress over the unknown future.

“Basketball has never been more meaningful. The world needs basketball now more than ever.”

Former Sacramento Kings point guard Pooh Jeter is another American in quarantine in China after returning to play for the Fujian Sturgeons.

“Day 1 in China,” he posted on Twitter on Wednesday. “Salute to my team Fujian for taking care of me. 13 more days to go.”

Lithuanian Donatas Motiejunas said he expected to be back on court playing for the Shanghai Sharks by the middle of April.

“The team sent me a letter inviting me back, it was entirely my choice,” the former Houston Rockets power forward told Houston’s Fox 26 TV station from China.

“It looks like all the restrictions are going to be taken away at the end of the month and life will be back to normal.”

NBA won’t commit to paying players beyond April 1

NBA players will get their paychecks as scheduled on April 1, but the fate of salaries beyond that date is unclear, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported Friday night.

The next payday after April 1 would be April 15. At that point, it’s possible the NBA could cut or suspend salaries with the league still shuttered due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to a league memo sent Friday to the teams.

The lost revenue from the shutdown reportedly could prompt the league to invoke a clause in the collective bargaining agreement that permits reducing players’ salaries by 1/92.6 per canceled game due to “catastrophic circumstances.” The list of such conditions includes war, natural disasters and epidemics/ pandemics, per the report.

The NBA regular season had been scheduled to end April 15. While all teams have played between 63 and 67 of their 82 games (77 percent to 82 percent), ESPN’s Bobby Marks reported that players will have received approximately 90 percent of their salaries once they get their April 1 checks.

The league closed down on March 11, after a positive coronavirus test for Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert was shared with the team and the NBA. Commissioner Adam Silver announced March 12 that the hiatus would last at least 30 days.

Wojnarowski reported Sunday that NBA owners are preparing for a scenario in which games won’t resume before mid-June – the point when the playoffs are normally concluding.

Silver said Wednesday in an ESPN interview that the league could consider restarting its schedule with games played in empty arenas. He added that it’s possible the 2020/21 season could end up running December through August instead of October through June.

Ten NBA players are known to have tested positive for COVID19, though only five of those have been publicly identified: Gobert, Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell, injured Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant, Detroit Pistons forward Christian Wood and Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart.

Three other Nets players and two Los Angeles Lakers players also tested positive.

Pay cuts coming for 76ers, Devils employees

Employees who work for billionaire Josh Harris’ sports teams, the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils, have been notified they will be hit with temporary pay cuts starting April 15, according to multiple reports.

The cuts of up to 20 percent, aimed at at-will employees making more than $50,000, will run through June 30 in an effort to recoup lost revenue in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, which has forced the pause of every major sports league in the United States.

Harris’s company, Harris Blitzer Sports and Entertainment, will not engage in layoffs or changes in benefits, according to the reports.

The New York Times reported that contracted employees, such as the coaching staff and front office personnel, have been asked to participate in the cuts, but they cannot be forced to do so.

The NBA reportedly will pay all players through April 1, but the fate of paychecks due April 15, which would have been the final day of the regular season, is uncertain. The league is on hiatus until at least mid-April, but it is unlikely to restart that soon.

NHL players will be paid through the scheduled end of the regular season, April 4. It is unclear when or if the hockey season will restart.