NEW YORK _ The National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) informally began polling its players regarding whether they wanted to resume playing basketball amid the coronavirus outbreak. On Wednesday, some results of that poll began to surface.
The athletes whose very livelihood hinges on playing basketball have expressed "overwhelming support" for resuming play in a safe way, according to the Associated Press. That includes whether the NBA resumes its season directly in the playoffs or if it picks the season back up where it left off before its hiatus.
The league suspended play on March 11 after Jazz center Rudy Gobert became the first player to test positive for the coronavirus. The virus quickly spread across the NBA, with Gobert's teammate Donovan Mitchell testing positive the following day, and four Brooklyn Nets players _ including Kevin Durant _ testing positive in the ensuing week.
Durant was one of several NBA superstars to join in on a conference call and establish a united front in favor of resuming the season on Tuesday, according to Yahoo Sports. Durant's involvement on the call was of note: He has not played a game this season due to a ruptured Achilles tendon, yet questions still swirl around his potential return should the NBA resume its season.
Others on the call were NBPA president Chris Paul, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Stephen Curry, Damian Lillard and Russell Westbrook.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver held a conference call with a fraction of the league's players on Friday, and on that call, he said resuming the season in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic "could be the single greatest challenge of our lives," according to ESPN.
He also said a resume in play would more than likely happen in a bubble city. The NBA has toyed with the idea of playing at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla., and Las Vegas' MGM Grand Resort has pitched every professional sports league on the prospect of finishing their seasons out West.
"There's no point in adding risk for flying all of you city to city if there's not going to be fans," Silver told players on the call. "We think it would be safer to be in a single location, or two locations, to start."
Silver, though, also told players there were no assurances that he could guarantee their safety from COVID-19 if the season were to resume. A coronavirus vaccine is not expected to be available in the near future. A player who contracts the coronavirus could then turn around and transmit it to those around him _ and he could do it without even knowing he has the virus, as many cases have been asymptomatic.
For now, it seems players are warm, if not red-hot on the idea of resuming the season, be it in the regular season or the playoffs. Silver also gave a timeline of his decision-making process: We'll hear back from him in two-to-four weeks, which means an expected verdict will come down at some point in June.
