Tuesday marked a busy news day for the National Basketball Players Association.
First, Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the NBPA began the informal process of polling players on their thoughts on resuming the 2019-20 season — bizarrely, without a uniform format or promise of anonymity, and posed as a ‘yes or no’ question:
Shams Charania later reported that the NBPA, in a statement, clarified that it “has not authorized any formal poll of players.” It’s unclear whether this is a direct dispute of Wojnarowski, given that he specifically used the term “informal poll” in his reporting.
Still, players from around the NBA chimed in on the matter, with Jared Dudley of the Lakers and Ja Morant of the Grizzlies notably cementing themselves in the ‘yes’ column.
Dudley further addressed the nuance embedded in the question of whether players support a return to play.
Charania added that the NBPA is organizing a call amongst players to discuss return-to-play strategies.
According to Chris Haynes, that conversation will come on the heels of a private conference call between NBA superstars — including Chris Paul, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kawhi Leonard, Stephen Curry, Damian Lillard and Russell Westbrook — Monday. In that call, the players enumerated “formed a united front to resume the 2019-20 season,” per Haynes.
Of course, their determination to play is contingent on the NBA being capable of enacting appropriate safety measures beforehand. Commissioner Adam Silver recently conceded that any resumption of play before a COVID-19 vaccination is available will carry a level of risk. As Dudley noted, the financial risk of canceling the season is both unknowable and potentially vast.
NBA
When it comes time to make that decision once and for all, the input of the superstars on the aforementioned private conference call is expected to carry weight, according to Haynes. But much remains open-ended for the time being.
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