Adam Silver and the NBA Are Working Towards Resuming the Season

SI's Chris Mannix shares the updates on the possibility of a resumed NBA season

After a lot of speculation and contingency plan theories, it seems like the NBA is nearly a plan to get the season up and running again. There are still details to figure out regarding the mechanics of how a resumed season will look and function. SI's Chris Mannix has the updates on the NBA's return.

Video Transcript:

Robin Lundberg: The NBA seems poised for a return with Orlando and DisneyWorld being the likely destination site. For more, I'm joined by our senior writer, Chris Mannix. Chris, first of all, is it almost inevitable now that the NBA season will resume?

Chris Mannix: Yeah, I think they've crossed a number of different hurdles and now it's just working out the logistics for an eventual return. Some of the teams that I've been talking to, it seems like there's a timeline that started to develop here. Where June 15th to get all players back into facilities, end of June - you get training camp started, and mid-July, you restart some form of season. Now, it remains unclear if that season is going to include just playoff teams or the more likely scenario: every team in the league playing some number of games to wrap it up. But it does seem like we are we are just maybe at the five-yard line toward starting a new season.

Robin Lundberg: And you mentioned the logistics there. There have been talks of a "bubble city." Adam Silver's referred to it as a campus-like environment. But I saw Jared Dudley say that the players wouldn't exactly be confined there.

Chris Mannix: Yeah, I mean, that's one of the things I think that's still being worked out. Right? Like, how does all this work? I mean, how many players are at one place? How many family members can they bring with them? Where are they ultimately allowed to go? The comments made by Jared Dudley were really interesting because you look at it as kind of being a weak option here. Like what if one player goes off campus, contracts coronavirus and spreads it before he is detected himself? That would sabotage an entire season. I mean, I don't think anybody likes the idea of a top-tier team like the Lakers or Bucks being quarantined in one location for a period of months. But that may be the only way to get a season started or restarted in a safe manner. Adam Silver has made it clear if we have to shut down the season based on one positive test, it's not worth coming back. The only way to kind of make it as safe as possible really is effectively quarantining these players and a handful of family members in one location. 

Robin Lundberg: And it does seem like the league and the players for the most part are on the same page, correct?

Chris Mannix: Look, I think that there is a difference of opinion in whether players, even owners, executives, want to come back. There is relative unanimity in that. If it means the betterment of the financial health of the league, which it does, everybody will come back. So players may not want to play. But if it affects their bottom line, which it does, they will play.