'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
The NBA is the first of the Big Four American leagues to resume play as the country stutters to find its way back to a normal life amid the coronavirus threat. Resumption of major league sports may convince a significant section of Americans to stay home and watch the NBA, rather than expose themselves to the threat of the airborne virus that has claimed the lives of over 132,000 people across the United States.
But the resumption of play is not without its caveats and drawbacks. For starters, fans are still not going to be able to cheer their teams on, as the games will be played in a neutral venue with no spectators present. The players and other members of the NBA organizations will be accommodated together in a veritable 'bubble' that NBA commissioner Adam Silver has conceptualized in partnership with Disney World Orlando.
On top of that, a number of players will be missing in action when the games resume on the 30th of July. At the start of June, there was a genuine possibility than even larger numbers of players would sit out the restart as a mark of their protest against systemic racism. That movement, spearheaded by the likes of Kyrie Irving, petered out in a few days.
NBA players who will miss out on the action scheduled to take place in Orlando:
#1 LaMarcus Aldridge
The San Antonio Spurs will surely be sorely missing their most reliable player when the bubble restarts in Orlando on the 30th of July. LaMarcus Aldridge is scheduled to undergo a season-ending surgery on his torn labrum in a few weeks, and has been ruled out for the remainder of the season by team doctors.
While Aldridge's numbers are definitely down from his peak when he averaged 23 points and 11 rebounds for the Blazers and the Spurs, he was still the league's best post player. He is also a sturdy presence on the interior, and his absence makes the Spurs' chances of hitting the #8 or #9 seed that much harder.
#2 Kyrie Irving
The 6-time All Star has had a spotty start to his career stint in his hometown, missing over half of the season before the league-wide suspension due to a shoulder injury he suffered in mid-November. When he staged his comeback in mid-January and had only just gotten back into his groove with a 50-piece against the Bulls, he succumbed to another injury on the same shoulder.
He underwent surgery on the 20th of February that would ordinarily have kept him out of the postseason, but hopes arose that he would be back in action for the delayed season restart after the league shutdown. Those hopes were dashed, however, when he decided to sit out for the rest of the season.
#3 Bradley Beal
In the absence of John Wall, Bradley Beal has had to take up the mantle of the Wizards all by himself in the past season and a half. He has had barely enough support, however, and the exertions of carrying a team all by himself mean that Beal is once again injury-prone, as he was in the earlier part of his NBA career.
The Wizards have announced today that Beal will be sitting out of the NBA season restart in Orlando.
ALSO READ: 10 players with the highest vertical leap in NBA history
#4 Avery Bradley
The undersized shooting guard, who was one of the Lakers' crucial rotation pieces during their campaign till the shutdown, has decided to sit out the rest of the NBA season. He attributes this decision to the frail pulmonary health of his son, who may need his father to be present in the event that he contracts the novel coronavirus.
The Lakers are definitely going to miss the two-way presence of the former Celtic, who has earned his stripes in the league as a defensive pest on point guards, and had become a reliable 3-and-D player of late.
#5 DeAndre Jordan
The former All NBA center, who signed with the Nets last off-season for a contract worth $40 million over 4 years, has had the reputation of an Iron Man in the past. This is because he's never suffered any career-threatening injuries or enforced absences due to niggles through his 12-year career in the NBA.
But with the advent of the COVID-19 threat, DeAndre Jordan is one of the bigger names who will be missing the restart of the season in Orlando, effectively meaning that the Nets' Big Three will all miss the rest of the season.
#6 Victor Oladipo
One of the best two-way players in the NBA, Victor Oladipo was working his way back to full match fitness after missing the bulk of the season till late January due to a knee injury he'd suffered in early 2019. He'd just begun to find his bearings and increase his scoring efficiency when the league shut down.
But now that the NBA is scheduled to return in a couple of weeks, Oladipo has chosen to opt out and nurse his knee back to full fitness for next season, which may be a condensed one.
#7 Davis Bertans
Before Adam Silver's decision to suspend the NBA season, Davis Bertans was in the form of his life for the Wizards. In 54 games played this season, the sniper had drained 42.4% of his attempted 3-pointers, good for 7th in the NBA.
With 200 made 3-pointers, he was only 23 made 3-pointers behind the franchise record for a season held by resident franchise star Bradley Beal. He was also averaging career highs in points (15.4), rebounds (4.5) and assists (1.7) per game through the course of the season.
Given how this season has been so fruitful for him personally, it would be a disappointment for the franchise that he decided to put his free agency over the team and sit out for the remainder of the season. They would, however, be looking to bring him back next season, as he fits the profile of a stretch 4/5 in the modern NBA to a T.
#8 Kelly Oubre Jr.
Like Bertans, swingman Kelly Oubre Jr was enjoying the best output of his short career thus far this season, averaging 18.7 points and 6.4 rebounds per game while acting as the Suns' best perimeter defender. But he fell victim to a knee injury while playing in a game against the Jazz in February - a condition diagnosed to be a torn meniscus on his right knee.
He will be travelling with the team to Orlando to recuperate, but Oubre Jr will be playing no part in the Suns' bid to finish 8th or 9th after the NBA season restarts.
#9 Trevor Ariza
One of the most trusted 3-and-D swingmen across the NBA over the past decade, Trevor Ariza was traded to the Trail Blazers from the Sacramento Kings as recently as January 2020, as the Blazers bid to add some solidity to their perimeter defense.
It didn't take long for the 35-year-old to settle into life at the Moda Center and help Dame Dolla start a winning streak. But post the COVID-19 break, Ariza has bigger fish to fry in his personal life than his NBA career.
He has opted out of the season restart in Orlando in order to be able to spend time with his son during a one-month visitation window that starts midway through the revised schedule.
#10 Thabo Sefolosha
While the 36-year-old didn't exactly set the world on fire on offense for the Rockets this season, he was still one of their better perimeter defenders. With his vast experience consisting of 14 NBA seasons, he would have been an asset during the playoffs for Houston.
However, he has ruled himself out of the restart, and the Rockets have replaced him with former defensive talisman Luc M'bah a Moute, who helped them to a league-best 65-17 record in the 2017-18 NBA season.
ALSO READ: Redrafting the 2017 NBA draft class
