Adam Silver: NBA is Not 'Seriously Engaged' in Quarantine Playoffs Proposal

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver: "There is no appetite to compromise the health and safety of our players."

Adam Silver spoke with the NBA's Board of Governors on Friday, and the league commissioner didn't offer much positivity regarding a potential return to play this summer. 

Silver and the league office are continuing to evaluate contingencies for a potential ending of the NBA's hiatus. But as the United States continues to battle the COVID-19 crisis, we appear a long ways away from having any firm date for the 2019-20 season to resume.

"We are not in a position to make any decisions,” Silver said. “And it’s unclear when we will be.”

One potential idea for resuming play has centered around a sort of quarantined playoffs. The NBA could place all teams (potentially just those who qualify for the playoffs) in one city to finish the season, with Las Vegas emerging as the rumored site for such an event. Silver didn't exactly provide a ringing endorsement of the proposal on Friday. 

“In terms of bubble-like concepts, many of them have been proposed to us, and we’ve only listened,” Silver said. “We’re not seriously engaged yet in that type of environment.”

The NBA may be projecting pessimism toward resuming 2019-20 at the moment, but don't expect the league to cancel the season until all possibilities are examined. Silver said on Friday league revenue has "in essence, dropped to zero," creating a significant crisis for the league. Player salaries will be cut by 25% beginning on May 15. Further cuts will likely follow if the suspension continues. But even as the NBA looks to make up a revenue shortfall, it still needs further medical information to resume the 2019-20 season.

"We know we need large-scale testing," Silver said. "When you’re dealing with human life, that trumps anything else we could possibly be talking about.”