Before a date for the NBA restart was announced, many were questioning whether or not basketball would come back at all this season.
All-in-all, the league will likely lose hundreds of millions of dollars and the revenue hit will trickle down to affect everyone involved. With the season set to resume late next month, reports indicate that several high-profile players are trying to spread the word on what kind of impact not playing would have on teams and players financially.
Yahoo Sources: Several high profile players are communicating with their counterparts and educating them on potential negative financial impact not playing would have on the players, not just for this season but moving forward. (Cont’d)
— Vincent Goodwill (@VinceGoodwill) June 12, 2020
Yahoo sources cont’d: The high profile players are also relaying that the NBPA won’t have any leverage negotiating a new CBA with owners in the middle of a pandemic
— Vincent Goodwill (@VinceGoodwill) June 12, 2020
It seems as if there is a group of players advocating for the return of the season. Cancelation will not only leave loose ends on the status of the season, but it will hurt players’ wallets in the long run.
On the flip side, there also seems to be a group of players (led by Kyrie Irving in particular) who are against returning to play. This concern seems to stem from the fact that COVID-19 is still active in the United States and resuming action puts players at risk of contracting the virus.
Needless to say, there seems to be a split between the players on whether to return to action or not. We’ll see who shows up when the time arrives.
