"At this point, I think it’s still coming down to prayer" - NBPA executive director Michele Roberts skeptical about the impact of COVID on this season's Christmas day games

With the NBA world recently being ravaged by COVID-19 and its variants, there has been a call to the authorities to come up with a solution that will decrease the spread of infections amongst players and the rest of the team. There is a lot of uncertainty around whether or not the NBA season should continue amid rising COVID-19 cases.

Michele Roberts, the National Basketball Players Association Executive Director, has been the one tasked with finding a solution. Speaking to The Athletic, Michele Roberts said on the matter:

"I’ve been getting calls from our players all day — ‘Michele, are they going to cancel Christmas games?"

Christmas day fixtures are steeped in NBA history and have produced some of the best regular season games of all time. But with so many players entering health and safety protocols, teams might struggle because of the unavailability of players.

"People are concerned about who would ultimately be available to play. And the answer is, I don’t know … it is, obviously, concerning. There are some questions right now about some of our so-called marquee players’ availability to be able to play on Christmas. That’s our day, and we’d hate to not be able to continue to own that day," Roberts added.

But with the likes of Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Zach LaVine, etc. all in quarantine at the moment, it begs the question if these games will have the box office attraction in their absence. Michele Roberts continued:

"But one might ask the question — if your marquee guys are all in quarantine, is it worth playing those games, or should those games be, if they can be, postponed? No one’s asked me. But at this point, I think it’s still coming down to prayer."

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Should the NBA postpone Christmas day games?

Charlotte Hornets v Phoenix Suns

It is extremely difficult to get games on Christmas day in the NBA as these are reserved purely for teams with maximum box office appeal. The likes of the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors have had plenty of Christmas day games over the last couple of years, and it is during this time that fans come together in a festive mood.

The safety of the NBA players and everyone involved is paramount and will be the driving force behind potentially postponing these games to a later date. With the regular season set to end on April 10, there is more than enough time for the league to fit these couple of games into the remaining schedule of the respective teams.