Report: Nikola Jokic, Malcolm Brogdon, And Spencer Dinwiddie Are Among Three Of The Sixteen Players That Have Tested Positive For COVID-19. Should The NBA Still Return Despite The Number Of Cases?
On June 29, 2020, Deandre Jordan announced on twitter that he has caught the Corona Virus and will look to sit-out for the remainder of the returning season. Jordan has become the newest addition to the 16 confirmed cases of CoronaVirus. Some of the other players that have caught the virus include Nikola Jokic, Spencer Dinwiddie, Malcolm Brogdon and Jabari Parker. Despite all the confirmed cases, Adam Silver, the commissioner of the NBA, has still insisted on continuing the season even though most, if not all, NBA players are at risk. Silvers response to the season returning are as followed,
“Listen, it’s not an ideal situation,” Silver said of the challenges the NBA is facing in an appearance on Monday night’s The Return to Sports special on ESPN. “We are trying to find a way to our own normalcy in the middle of a pandemic, in the middle of essentially a recession or worse with 40 million unemployed, and now with enormous social unrest in the country. And so as we work through these issues, I can understand how some players may feel, that it’s not for them ... it may be for family reasons, it may be for health reasons they have, or it may be because they feel — as some players have said very recently — that their time is best spent elsewhere.”
”Things are changing around us,” Silver later added. “The social unrest in the country was — in the same way we never could have predicted the pandemic would unfold, in the way it has — what’s happened since George Floyd’s death is also unprecedented. I’m incredibly sympathetic and empathetic to what’s happening in people’s lives. And in the midst of all that, to say, ‘We’re looking for an opportunity to restart this league, to try to move forward with crowning a champion,’ it’s not top of mind for a lot of people.”
If you want to read more, here is the link to the ESPN'S article,
Adam Silver has outlined the concerns of what players and fans have and has also addressed to every NBA franchise that players are not forced to play basketball and instead can stay at home with their loved ones. Some players have voiced to the media that they will not be joining their respected teams and instead will be at home where they can be safe and sound. Some of these players include Avery Bradley, Willie Cauley Stein, and Dwight Howard, who is still unease in his decision but will most likely remain at home. However, bringing back the NBA is questionable even with the freedom of choice that Silver granted.
When reflecting on the two quotes listed above, the message of Silver's statement is that basketball can be used as a healthy method to look forward and start a new chapter. With the extreme isolation that everyone is experiencing around the world, having a sport to partake in could be a healthy source of entertainment. Silver's perspective is respectable as he believes that sport can be a way to unite people together while also moving forward to a new chapter in everyone's lives. However, is this a tactic that Adam Silver and the NBA is using to distract people from what is really going on in the world?
Many NBA players have felt that the NBA doesn't necessarily care about their players but instead cares about their revenue and potential distraction that it could cause. Here's what Justice Winslow had to say about the NBA returning. (Warning: contains vulgar language)
“This s**t ain’t even about basketball or our safety anymore. All about the Benjamins Baby. Not sure if they actually care if we get corona. FOH”
Winslow is not the only player that has concerns about the NBA's return. Rumour has it that 40-50 players have similar concerns, and with these 16 confirmed cases, the NBA is not looking like they actually support their players and instead are obsessed about their revenues. Silver himself mentioned the recession and felt the need to take charge instead of cancelling the entire season while losing millions of dollars in the process.
Both sides of the argument makes sense. On the one hand, the NBA is a business that needs to make money to support their players, endorsements, partnerships, and so on. Without revenue, the NBA would deplete and be in debt; hence why, it makes sense that Adam Silver wants to resume the season. However, the player's perspective also makes a lot of sense due to the social unrest in the United States and the player's safety. With the tragic murder of George Floyd and the country's response to protesting for Black Lives Matter, the NBA's return to some players can be viewed as a distraction from what's important. Although watching basketball games are entertaining, this movement is far more important than anything as change needs to happen! Here is was Lou Williams had to say about the NBA's return,
“The point that some of the guys are raising about not playing is, basically, we don’t want to be a distraction,” Williams said when asked during the chat what the next move is for the players. “For us, the only benefit of us not playing is to keep the focus on the fight. And with that being said, this [return] is in six weeks. ... In six weeks, the world may need some healing. They may need us to be on the floor. But if more black kids or black adults or any adults that’s dealing with police brutality are getting killed, and we are still outraged, I don’t know if it is in our best interest to suit up.
”Because it looks like that we don’t care. If we do suit up — and we are having conversations behind closed doors — how much of this platform can we really use? Can we get a Black Lives Matter patch on our jersey? Can our jerseys say, Black Lives Matter? Can the court say, Black Lives Matter? So we can use that platform to the best of our abilities. Honestly, it is hard to call. I’m 50-50, to be honest with you.”
If you want to read more, here is the link to Bleacher Report’s article,
In conclusion, the NBA should not return until the coronavirus has a vaccine and until an immediate change is made for the black community. The world is at war with itself, and having basketball is the last thing society should care about and instead should focus on these immediate tasks. Finding a vaccine and finding a way to spread equality too all people is far more superior than finding out who the 2020 NBA champion is. These are people's lives at risk every day, and society is arguably more focused on sports making a return rather than serving what's really important. That is disgusting!
