San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Olympics seem like fantasy at this point
Very quietly, hoping for the best, the NBA has been in desperation mode to complete its jampacked schedule before the start of the Olympics. Which could make things a bit awkward, to say the least, if the Games are not held.
As much as the Warriors’ Stephen Curry and Draymond Green would love to compete for Team USA, with Steve Kerr an assistant on coach Gregg Popovich’s staff, they can’t even begin to imagine what it might be like, in Japan, with the coronavirus pandemic still raging worldwide.
In the face of escalating alarm, the International Olympic Committee hasn’t wavered in its insistence that the Games will take place. That has been the public stance of IOC president Thomas Bach, and vice president John Coates confirmed to reporters on Saturday that although opposition is a “concern,” nothing will stop the Games from starting as planned on July 23.
The IOC should be more than merely concerned about the developments of Saturday, when Japan registered more than 7,000 new COVID19 cases, the country’s highest total since January, due to a rapidly spreading fourth wave driven by more contagious and deadlier variants of the virus.
Japan has a history of skepticism toward vaccines in general, and its current vaccination rate ranks with the lowest in the world. Between the public, the media, sporting executives and politicians in that country, there is an overwhelming sentiment to call off the Olympics — financial catastrophe be damned.
Does the NBA really want to venture into this maelstrom with some of its greatest players?
Beyond question, the league has earned its players’ trust during the pandemic. The NBA adroitly pulled off its “bubble” experiment to finish last year’s season in Orlando, staged the AllStar Game in Atlanta without complications two months ago, and is on track to complete this season with all teams playing the full 72 games. Health and safety protocols are likely to be extreme for athletes at the Olympics, and although vaccines will not be required of U.S. competitors, they will be strongly recommended.
(Kerr and Green both were vaccinated, receiving the oneshot Johnson & Johnson in
jection along with several other members of the organization, March 25 at Kaiser Permanente near Chase Center. There has been no official word on Curry.)
The schedule will be tight and fraught with complications. The NBA playoffs begin May 22. On July 2, an Olympics training camp will begin in Las Vegas. The team would leave for Tokyo July 18. The NBA Finals start on July 8, with a possible Game 7 on July 22. Three days later, the U.S. team is scheduled to play its first game of the Olympics tournament against France. No wonder 57 players were invited to the camp; national team director Jerry Colangelo said “it’s important we remain flexible” and have a larger pool than normal “because of all the uncertainties we face about availability.”
If any of the U.S. stars plan to bail, they haven’t spoken publicly. Green — no guarantee to make the final 12man roster — won a gold medal at the 2016 Games and has expressed excitement about playing. Curry told ESPN “that’s the plan” before the onset of the pandemic but said recently he won’t have any comments until this vague landscape clears up.
Around the NBA
Something for the Warriors to consider: Facing the Lakers in the playin tournament. Hard to comprehend, but that’s how it stands — the Lakers at No. 7 in the Western Conference, Warriors at No. 8 — and could easily be the case when the tournament starts May 18. The Lakers are sinking fast, with no timetable on LeBron James’ return to the lineup from a reaggravated high ankle sprain. Big plus for Portland, looking to stay in the top six and avoid the playin: Authorities allowed fans (around 2,000) into their home arena for the first time Friday night as the Trail Blazers knocked off the Lakers. Only days before, Damian Lillard
said on Twitter that with other teams enjoying home attendance for weeks, Portland was playing at a severe disadvantage in an “empty, dead building.” Worth following, with the Warriors due to inherit Minnesota’s firstround draft pick if it falls outside the top three in the lottery: Looking noticeably motivated of late, honoring Anthony Edwards’ drive for Rookie of the Year and fostering the teamwork between longtime friends KarlAnthony Towns and D’Angelo Russell,
the Timberwolves could finish with only the sixthworst record in the standings. In that event, as we take the insiders’ word for it, they’d have only a 30% chance of keeping that pick. Dallas star Luka Doncic
doesn’t want to be a Draymond Greenlike thorn in the officials’ side. After picking up his 14th and 15th technical fouls of the season during a May 2 loss to Sacramento — and facing suspension if he gets one more — Doncic has promised it won’t happen. “I’ve been complaining way too much,” he said Thursday. “I’ve got to work on it and be way better than this.” Yes, that is Anderson Varejao coming off the Cleveland Cavaliers’ bench. Varejao, who joined the Warriors in February 2016 and played sparingly in the playoff run (he was waived the next February), was playing in his native Brazil when the Cavaliers offered him a 10day contract to properly finish his career. Varejao played 12 seasons in Cleveland and, as in Oakland, became a beloved figure.