Asterisk.
Is there really any question to that part of the 2019-20 NBA equation, no matter how it plays out from here?
No, not necessarily tainted. That would be far too harsh in light of the perseverance that will be required to potentially complete what began on Oct. 22.
But certainly atypical. Because it has never been this way before, and almost assuredly (hopefully?) never to be this way again.
The previous asterisk debates in the NBA centered on the lockout-shortened 1998-99 and 2011-12 seasons, with the San Antonio Spurs winning the '99 title after a 50-game regular season and the Miami Heat the 2012 title after a 66-game season. There also was Phil Jackson questioning the Houston Rockets' 1994 and '95 titles due to Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls hiatus.
But those debates were as senseless as penalizing Roger Maris for breaking Babe Ruth's home run record in a 162-game season compared to the 154-game schedule for Ruth.
This is not baseball's home run records in the steroid era, track standards juiced by injection, World Series won through sign stealing, deflated footballs.
In both 1999 and 2012, the NBA played a complete playoffs, ones that began in the immediate wake of the end of the regular season. In front of fans. With the superior regular-season teams receiving homecourt advantage.
This time, if there are playoffs, they will come after months of inactivity, sans fans, almost assuredly on neutral courts.
That doesn't mean they shouldn't be played if medically possible. In many ways, these could turn into some of the most cherished and most viewed playoffs in years.
And the fortitude to push through in light of the health concerns worldwide, as well as those far closer to home, arguably could require a focus level even greater than the laser-like single-mindedness that Jordan has shown us on these consecutive recent Sundays.
But so much will be different.
Yes, the Warriors lost Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant at moments of truth during last year's NBA Finals. Yet no one dared begrudge the Toronto Raptors for their championship achievement. The same with when the Warriors won the 2015 title with the Cleveland Cavaliers lacking Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving at the close of those Finals.
Injuries are part of the game.
Losing players to two-week quarantine, which could be the case due to COVID-19 during an attempted 2020 NBA playoffs, would be something far different. Because, in theory, those players, if asymptomatic, still would be able to play from a physical standpoint, just not from a public-health perspective.
"The team that's going to win, if this does come back, is going to be the team that had the most collective guys taking this time off seriously," Houston guard Austin Rivers said in a Facebook interview with Rockets broadcaster Craig Ackerman.
Los Angeles Clippers coach Doc Rivers, Austin Rivers' dad, picked up from there on the "Go Off" podcast hosted by his son, "It's so hard to win. I always say that the people who say, 'Put an asterisk by it,' they're the losers. The winners don't ever say, 'Put an asterisk by it.' If we win it, we're gonna have a parade. We're gonna have a big trophy in our case. And we're gonna get rings."
Well, perhaps not a parade, due to social distancing, but certainly a really loud Zoom celebration.
Because this will be different.
Arguably more challenging, with more distraction, lacking the boost of a home crowd, and basketball that could be turned upside down by a single swab.
And that's the thing, history will record 2019-20 as an NBA season like no other, as a year like no other.
Much of the recent asterisk debate started when Shaquille O'Neal told USA Today, "To try and come back now and do a rush playoffs as a player? Any team that wins this year, there's an asterisk. They're not going to get the respect."
Or, instead, perhaps the ultimate respect.
Because this could prove to be the season that lifted spirits when spirits needed lifting the most.
So no shame.
Even if an asterisk.
And remember, asterisks also are for footnotes, of which there will be plenty for this season. (And comes the Greek word "asterikos," which translates into "little star," of which there yet could be many upon a resumption.)
