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The NBA has postponed five more games – for a total of seven across Sunday and through Tuesday – as teams scramble to deal with the latest COVID-19 outbreak.
The postponed games Sunday were Cleveland Cavaliers at Atlanta Hawks, Denver Nuggets at Brooklyn Nets and New Orleans Pelicans at Philadelphia 76ers. Games postponed Monday and Tuesday, respectively, are Orlando Magic at Toronto Raptors and Washington Wizards at Brooklyn Nets.
Atlanta Hawks All-Star guard Trae Young and LA Lakers coach Frank Vogel entered the health and safety protocols Sunday.
The Cleveland Cavaliers are down to seven players after Denzel Valentine, Dylan Windler, Lamar Stevens, Jarrett Allen and RJ Nembhard all tested positive. Isaac Okoro and Evan Mobley previously tested positive.
The Orlando Magic signed Aleem Ford, Hassani Gravett, B.J. Johnson and Admiral Schofield just to fill out the roster.
Is a return to the NBA bubble imminent? It should be.
The uptick in NBA COVID-19 cases
As fans clamor for an exciting season to continue uninterrupted, losing more games on the horizon seems inevitable. Stars are dropping quickly, and coaching staffs are affected as well.
Three former MVPs are in health and safety protocols: Giannis Antetokounmpo, James Harden and Russell Westbrook. Vogel is the third coach to be sidelined. He joins Alvin Gentry of the Sacramento Kings and Rick Carlisle of the Indiana Pacers.
How much does the NBA bubble cost the league?
The NBA spent $180 million for 100 days of basketball in the Orlando bubble in 2020, but the setup allowed the NBA to stop a potential loss of $1.5 billion. There are many reasons why the league is trying to avoid the complexities of the bubble, yet what the NBA doesn't need is the possibility of a loss of life.
While the business side is important, there is a human element that is more paramount to any dollar loss as COVID-19 variants rock the nation and the world at large.
No. 3 Player need vs. player want
The challenge for pro sports leagues in this pandemic is keeping personnel healthy while also being realistic about the leagues continuing to remain operational at the highest level. At this point, most know someone who has died from the virus, and despite the preponderance of pro athletes who are vaccinated, it only takes one casualty, and fans of sports will be even more alarmed.
The NBA has to be considering a stoppage until the virus dissipates, and while the league and its players are accustomed to lives of luxury, putting the NBA back in the bubble seems to be the best course of action.
Out of 322 NBA players in the bubble, only the tested positive. That is a 1% positive rate.
The bubble worked.
No. 2: The NBA bubble gives the league an air of good uncertainty
Think back to the bubble and the players who established themselves in the Disney complex.
T.J. Warren of the Indiana Pacers upped his team-leading average from 19 points to 35 points. Gary Trent Jr. became a major leader (8 points to 14 points per game along with hitting big 3-pointers) for the Portland Trailblazers after being regarded as a role player. And Michael Porter Jr. began to show the full potential many had been waiting for.
This is a great thing for the league. Players are incentivized for a myriad of reasons, yet T.J. Warren's dominance in the bubble was good to see.
While the LA Lakers were not a surprise in winning the NBA championship in the bubble, their Finals opponent, the Miami Heat, was a surprise. Both teams got it all together in the adversity to shine the brightest when it counted. The bubble gave lesser teams an incentive to increase their level of play in a reset sense. They had nothing to lose.
No. 1: It's the right thing to do
NBA fans see the league as a respite. The league is so talented from top to bottom that nightly there will be performances that will wow fans and create conversations that are essentially advertisements.
Fans are important to the league in that sense, yet even as fans clamor for everything the NBA has to offer and will be disappointed in a stoppage or the isolation of the bubble, the players are the most important commodity.
The players.
I've had many conversations with fans, and most do not want the NBA to return to the bubble. What I think they are missing is the potential of death. As hard as that is to swallow, the NBA is a game, and never more important than the health of its labor force no matter who says the opposite.
Imagine the story if a player dies. Think of the fallout and the legal ramifications. Think of all the media coverage, and then consider how the bubble could eliminate (or heavily mitigate) those possibilities.
It had to be weird for NBA players to play the game they love without the roar of the crowd – a roar that hypes up players and makes the magic happen. There was an adjustment, and players were challenged to deal with the isolation of not being able to see their families and loved ones.
Some will think this is the definition of entitlement, yet as we all deal with COVID-19, the only difference between the casual fan is the money players make.
The thing is, money means nothing if NBA players are no longer with us. Commissioner Adam Silver, get ahead of this and set up the bubble or you'll have a much bigger problem on your hands.
Guess the Lakers players!
