For the past several weeks the NBA has been no longer. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak the sports world has come to a close. With no large gatherings being able to take place, the Indiana Pacers forward momentum on the court was abruptly halted, for the better.
THE START
The sports worlds began its close with the NBA starting on March 11, 2020 as Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for the corona virus. This led to the shutdown of almost all other major sporting events, including NHL and both March Madness tournaments for mens and women’s college basketball. Since then many other NBA players had tested positive for the corona virus as well such as more Jazz players, a handful from the Brooklyn Nets, and a few more from the Los Angeles Lakers. This has caused all of the gyms and facilities to be closed, arenas to be shut down for events and the return of basketball to be in question.
THE PROCESS
Since the shutdown, NBA commissioner Adam Silver and the board have met numerous times during the hiatus to plan for the return of games. During multiple meetings there were discussions of a return to games, but with no fans in attendance, also moving all games to one location was in the discussion as well. The plan had involved moving all games to Las Vegas and continuing games with no fans for the rest of the year. That has not yet happened. There still have been no games played in the NBA since the shutdown.
THE FANS
What has occurred during this shutdown, without games, has been a plethora of fan engagement. The commissioner and ESPN, along with the players have put on numerous events to keep the fans involved with the basketball world. The first event was an all players only NBA 2k20 tournament where 16 NBA stars battled it out on the court, just virtually. This was aired on ESPN and hosted by Ronnie 2k himself and led to a great reaction from basketball fans all over. The tournament held many superstars such as Kevin Durant, Patrick Beverly, DeAndre Ayton, and eventual champ, Suns guard Devin Booker. Indiana Pacers forward and All-Star Domantas Sabonis was in the field of 16 but lost in the first round to Montrezl Harrell. Then ESPN hosted a virtual HORSE challenge as superstars from the NBA and WNBA and even former players took difficult shots on their home courts in a friendly game of virtual HORSE. Lastly, the 10 part documentary “The Last Dance” about Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls has brought the basketball community together again. It airs on ESPN and just finished up parts 3 and 4 last night with more episodes on the way.
THE FUTURE
As of right now we still do not know if the NBA will make a return to finish out the wild 2019-2020 season. What we do know is that facilities and gyms for teams are going to be opening up soon to allow for players to go in and work out individually. This is the first step forward. Players have been doing whatever they can to stay in shape but now will be able to put shots up along with lifting and conditioning for the return of the NBA, in which we hope will come soon enough.
Alston Bane 