The NBA has put out this 'bubble' that players will have to live in while the NBA season resumes come July in Walt Disney World in Orlando. While the protocols for living in the bubble have yet to be released, the report is that players can not bring their families until after the first round of the playoffs, players cannot leave the Disney World campus, and that they would be tested for the coronavirus every single day.
So obviously, the deal hits a tough note with many players on non-championship contending teams, and there are now talks among these teams that players will simply stay home and forgo their paychecks. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, some 40-50 NBA players held a conference call last Wednesday to discuss the "uncertainty" surrounding restarting the season inside the bubble.
One of the voices speaking out about this is the Indiana Pacers' Malcolm Brogden, who said this:
Malcolm Brogdon is a VP for the NBAPA. He said last week: “Guys across the NBA have very mixed [feelings about playing], it’s very polarized. Some guys are like, ‘I’m not playing. I don’t want to play... I’m not going to prioritize basketball over people’s health in general.'” https://t.co/swOeiXs6d8
— Tony East (@TEastNBA) June 10, 2020
Based on what Brogdon is saying in this, there are a lot of players who feel that the NBA is putting their own health at risk but playing for money and to finish the season rather than caring about their own healthy and safety and being with their families.
It appears from Woj's report that discussions are underway that would allow players to stay home without repercussions instead of joining in Orlando. However, those players would not be played.
So, what does this mean for the NBA and for those players, many of whom are on non-championship contending team? It might mean a dramatic reassessment of the field, which is why I thought the 22 teams were insane. That's why too many teams. Even the NHL is doing that many teams, which I don't find feasible either. In the case of the NBA, what many players are probably finding is that it is just not a big enough incentive to return to play. Even Jalen Rose said it himself on "Get Up" last week.
Rose said about it, "There are multimillionaires. Why risk your health when you already live in the suburbs and have money in the bank and you could play to another day, play to another season? There will be players, a ton of them, hesitant to go play in the bubble."
That's exactly the right feeling I have felt about this, and I believe the NBA and the Players Association is going to have to make a major change to this format well before they even start playing games again. I would think a reduction from 22 teams to between 12-16 teams would be an ideal start, because you can't have teams that are 24-40 in the tournament. That's basically rewarding bad effort and bad teams. The same may be done with the NHL, especially with players who know they have no chance to get far in the playoffs. So this would be a smart first move for the NBA.
The second thing they would have to address on this is this whole 'bubble' restriction. Not every player is going to want to follow these restrictions fully. We know players like LeBron James and Kawhi Leonard and Giannis Antetokoumpo are going to follow these restrictions to the tee because of their legacies, but many players lower on the totem pole are going to want to be able to have the freedom to move about and go places and that sort of thing and you can't do that if you're in a bubble. I'm pretty sure the proposals that will be put out soon may not be like what I suggested here, but if the restrictions are too tight inside the bubble, many of these players are not going to go along with it. They'll be fine with the constant testing because that's important, but they're not going to be okay with heavy restrictions on their movement.
Clearly, this is a big issue and we haven't even gotten to late July yet, but it's clear the NBA is going to have to change their playoff format a little bit, in order to make it feasible for all. Clearly, the 22-team format indicates that the NBA doesn't care about the health and safety of its players and its league, despite what the NBA tries to say against it, and it's clear the players are noticing it. So the best thing forward is to shrink the field and tell players there will be no repercussions for not playing. If they can't do that, they're going to have a revolt on our hands, and it may not be pretty.
