It’s now been 63 days (May 12, 2020) since the NBA was shut down. Rumors are continuing to flow around Twitter and the league about how, when, where or even if the NBA will return for this season, but 63 days in, and the only update so far is that practice facilities are potentially being re-opened.
For a while I was straight depressed; the NBA wasn’t coming back, the season was getting cancelled, and we may never be finding out the outcome of the most exciting NBA season in years. But then, cancellation rumors died down, and were replaced with exciting alternatives- as exciting as things can get in a global pandemic.
The first (if I skip things like the playoffs heading to Planet Mars) was the idea of Vegas, and simply moving the rest of the basketball season to the strip. Go straight to the playoffs, pile each team into separate hotels, and play out the rest of the season in one city. I really liked the sound of this, even if there still wouldn’t be any fans allowed into the arena.
Then came to DisneyWorld, courtesy of Keith Smith. At DisneyWorld Florida, there are 12-15 basketball courts located at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, and they are already broadcast ready, as the Jr NBA competition is held there, as well as numerous college basketball tournaments. I feel like holding the remaining season in DisneyWorld would be easier hospitality wise than Vegas, seeing as you could simply hold all the players in that complex, and DisneyWorld has enough hotels close to each other to hold 16 NBA teams.
Other ideas such as shorter series, less playoff rounds, and even playing on a cruise ship have all been floated, but nothing has tuned concrete yet. NBA fans are still spending their days refreshing Woj’s Twitter feed, hoping an update will emerge.
But one thing that does occur to me with all of these ideas floating around- how long-term of an impact is COVID-19 going to have? Does it’s effect go beyond the 2019/2020 season, and if so, how far?
I don’t think the season will resume until at least July, around a month and a half from now. Even if they just go play out the playoffs, this will still take 2 months, assuming they keep the regular format (again, something I think they will do). So we’re now finishing no earlier than September, and with preseason usually beginning in October, I really don’t see scenario where the NBA don’t change next season’s schedule as well.
But is this a bad thing? In my eyes, we have a couple of solutions from this point, and both are an improvement. The first: either temporarily or permanently shorten the NBA season to around 60 games. Whether it’s a one-season thing to get back on track, or a permanent move, it doesn’t matter, you start later but finish at the same time, by simply cutting down the regular season. Interestingly enough, this is something a fair few people were advocating for before COVID-19 even took off. The ‘regular season is irrelevant/the season is too long crowd’ was getting bigger and bigger, and choosing this strategy would at least give the NBA a chance to test out a new system, and see if it improves ratings and national interest in the regular season.
The second option is my preferred one, however. Delay the start of the season. Begin on Christmas Day, a move which will just hype up the Christmas Day games even more. Then play out 82 games and the usual playoffs, and play through the summer. July 4th Finals game anyone? I’m being slightly selfish in some of my reasoning; my two main sports are football and basketball, and with the football season finishing in May and NBA in June, I usually have a gap in my summer where I’m forced to try and follow baseball. I don’t hate it, but it’s just not the same. The NBA playoffs all throughout the summer, constant playoff games with summer break on the horizon? My idea of a good time.
Whatever the NBA choose to do, it’ll be historical, one of those ‘I was here when this season happened’ sort of deals. The culmination of the COVID-19 NBA season will be remembered for a long, long time, simply because there’s so many factors circling the game’s return. Playoff games with no fans? How does that work? And when are we going to see fans at games again; if it stretches into next season, do we delay that as well? It’s a fascinating time, and I’ve found that looking forward to an unusual, historical season finale is a much better way of coping. Whatever happens, I know one thing. The world without sports is NOT okay.
Beyond The Perimeter 
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