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With the holidays and the end of the year coming soon, the league is in full swing, with most teams having played around or near 30 games. While the NBA season has been off to a great start, the season has just hit a rough patch. In the last seven days, numerous players and teams have been hit hard by Covid-19 and health and safety protocols. At the beginning of this week, the top three teams in the East were devastated by health and safety protocols. The first seed in the East, the Brooklyn Nets, have seven people, including superstar James Harden, out due to protocols. While many thought the Nets would have their upcoming games delayed, they played Tuesday night against the Raptors and Thursday night against the Magic. The defending champion Milwaukee Bucks lost Wesley Matthews and Donte DiVincenzo (who was set to make his season debut) to protocols, but what’s worse is that they are without their superstar in Giannis Antetokounmpo.
One of the worse hit teams is the Chicago Bulls. After losing Nikola Vucevic and Coby White to health and safety protocols, the team hoped that would be it. Then it was hit, after hit, after hit. DeMar DeRozan went out, then Matt Thomas and Derrick Jones Jr. Then things got worse when Zach Lavine went out. Then Troy Brown, Ayo Dosunmu, and Alize Johnson went out. Stanley Johnson, who was just signed via hardship exception, also went out due to protocols. At this moment, there are currently eight Bulls players out due to health and safety protocols. Chicago will not play a game until Saturday against the Los Angeles Lakers. There are plenty of other NBA players sprinkled throughout the East who are missing games due to health and safety protocols. In Toronto, the Raptors will reduce arena capacity to 50% as Ontario reacts to the Covid surge in Canada.
In the Western Conference, things are not as bad, but concern has grown significantly as of Thursday afternoon. Marvin Bagley III of the Sacramento Kings, as well as interim head coach Alvin Gentry (one of several NBA head coaches), are both set to miss games as they enter protocols. The Kings shut down their facility, canceling their practice as the possibility of an outbreak increases. In Los Angeles, the Lakers have several players in protocols, including Russell Westbrook, who played Wednesday night against the Mavericks. With Russ going into the protocols, it’s possible that more players from Dallas and Los Angeles could enter health and safety protocols.
With most teams playing games until December 23rd (except the 10 teams playing on Christmas day), players will have a two or three break. Will that break be good or bad for the league? With Players most likely being around family, it is possible that players could end up in health and safety protocols upon returning to their teams. So the question is: should the league consider a shutdown? If the 2020-21 season tells us anything, too much money is on the line for the league to shut down again. The salary cap is already expected to be lower the next couple of seasons due to the impact covid and the shutdown had on the 2019-2020 and 2020-21 seasons. The best bet for the league would be to take a temporary pause from December 24th- January 1st (with Christmas day games still happening). This type of pause would not have a big impact cost-wise on the league and would all for players currently in protocols to get back on the court come the new year. This could also help in lowering the number of players going into health and safety protocols for the time being. Any pause to the season would have immediate backlash from a combination of players, fans, and team owners. There is no telling for sure what will happen, but the focus should be on the well-being of the players, coaches, and staff of NBA organizations.
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About the Author
Whatever happened to the mantra that the “vaccines will stop the corona virus”?
Isn’t it a fact that 95% of the pro athletes getting positive tests are VACCINATED?
Why is the point being met with deafening silence?
Do they think that the public is stupid?
Is there anyone in the new media who will SPEAK the TRUTH?
The vaccines were not made to stop the virus. Please stop that BULLSHIT talk. They were created to ease the suffering and dying from this virus. I get tired of you ASSHOLES saying this shit all the time.