While appearing on NBA TV last week, league commissioner Adam Silver stressed that, though no player on the league’s restart campus in Orlando has tested positive for COVID-19 since July, the coronavirus remains a danger to the NBA’s remaining Disney World inhabitants.
“Nobody’s tested positive who lives on this campus, but we’ve had positive tests in our vicinity,” Silver said, according to Marc Stein of the New York Times (Twitter link). “Every night … I am sort of (braced) for that call to say, ‘We have an issue.'”
There’s more from around the NBA:
- In a conversation with ESPN’s Rachel Nichols (video link) prior to last night’s Game 3 of the NBA Finals, Silver remarked that there’s no set deadline that the 2020/21 regular season must start by. “We love our fans and we want to bring them back into the arenas and we want to do it safely,” Silver said. “And so if there are advancements right on the horizon (related to coronavirus testing or treatment), that will be a reason to wait.”
- ESPN’s Kevin Pelton wonders if the blockbuster summer trade that landed Anthony Davis in Los Angeles may wind up ultimately benefiting both the Lakers and their trade partner, the Pelicans. The move gifted the Pelicans with a treasure trove of draft picks, plus 2020 All-Star Brandon Ingram and intriguing young guards Lonzo Ball and Josh Hart. Pelton notes that the Lakers will be in good position to retain the role players that have helped bring Davis and All-Star teammate LeBron James within two games of the Lakers’ 17th NBA title.
- The NBA has announced its 2019/20 Community Assistant award winners. All-Star Thunder point guard Chris Paul is joined by Celtics forward Jaylen Brown, Kings forward Harrison Barnes, Bucks point guard George Hill, and Mavericks big man Dwight Powell. The award honors players who have made significant community impacts in the arenas of social justice and COVID-19 help this season. The NBA and Kaiser Permanente will donate $10K to a charity of choice for each of these five players.
The 2021 season will obviously start when LeBron says he’s ready to play.
March
Correct…it’s sickening !
That AD trade is gold compared to what clippers gave up for pandemic P))))
In looking to acquire a player, Davis was clearly the best. His size a athletic ability set him apart. Getting of Lonzo Ball, just getting away from that family was a bonus.
Lakers will not be able to pay their role players. They will lose 2 of them unable to match pay outs. Watch how the decrease in cap money will have a big effect on all teams.
The Lakers have been smart since getting rid of Jim Buss. I assume they anticipated how resigning Davis would impact them and are prepared for it.
If Lakers are gonna have financial troubles it’s gonna hit the other teams even harder esp those who rely on the revenue sharing from them , when it comes to advantage it will always be Lakers
As a Lakers fan I thought that one of the good things about the trade for Anthony Davis was that we wouldn’t have to worry about the next group of big contracts all of our “young core” players were about to demand. Yes, I think the trade benefited both teams. I don’t think that the Lakers gave up too much. If we hadn’t made the trade we would have just continued to spin our wheels with the same ok players at a much larger price. We weren’t going to be elite. Davis and James fit perfectly together and I think both teams are happy.
I’m not a Lakers fan (Celtics fan here) but I agree with you — but also think the point of the article wasn’t that the Lakers gave up too much. But just that the trade is going to end up working out for both sides. And I think that’s true… the guys the Pelicans got back seem to be good fits for the team and the picks along with the youth of the package allows them to have some significant flexibility going forward. For a team that has really struggled to be consistently good… I think it was a great trade for them, especially considering AD wanted out anyway, and it should allow them the flexibility to try to piece together a playoff caliber team sooner rather than if they had made a trade for essentially all picks and just salary matching veteran contracts.
$10K donation for just 5 guys seems a little cheap. I mean I guess it’s better than nothing but like seriously it’s only 5 guys… they could have at least made it $100K/player donation.