On the eve of the soonest date that Adam Silver said he could update plans to possibly resume the season, some of the NBA's most prominent voices expressed optimism that the season is not over.
After a CNBC story quoted anonymous team executives and agents pushing for a cancellation of the season, LeBron James and Mark Cuban spoke up.
James tweeted, "Saw some reports about execs and agents wanting to cancel season??? That's absolutely not true. Nobody I know saying anything like that. As soon as it's safe we would like to finish our season. I'm ready and our team is ready. Nobody should be canceling anything."
James is no longer part of the National Basketball Players Association board after serving a four-year term as the vice president, which ended last year. But one of his closest friends in the league, Chris Paul, is the board president and the NBPA would be a part of any decision.
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, then went on CNN and said, "Safety first. Once we can determine that we can keep the players and all the important personnel required to put on a game, then we'll certainly look at all the options. I'm cautiously optimistic we'll be able to finish the season for television, I don't expect that we'll have fans."
Spurs CEO R.C. Buford also wants play to resume at some point this season, tweeting, "Every intention is to return to play and try to create the best environment we can for the league and for the fans. And we're all on board for that."
In the CNBC report, there was a quote from an anonymous team executive, stating, "What (we) are saying is, 'If we return, where is the revenue that is going to justify the additional cost of returning?' They are looking at the cost side versus the revenue side. What revenue comes in now?"
Silver has been active in discussing options with not only the league's Board of Governors, but also with medical and political forces advising on the potential ways that play could resume _ or if the risk is too great.
After holding his Board of Governor's conference call two weeks ago, Silver spoke of the mood of ownership.
"No doubt there is a fair amount of angst because at the end of the day they're like everyone else in the United States, Canada, who is dealing with a shelter-at-home protocol," Silver said. "I think they're more frustrated around the larger societal issues. I'd say these are people who also see an opportunity for the NBA to be a leader. I think we all know we were one of the first businesses to shut down at the beginning of the pandemic recognition in the United States.
"I think there is a sense that we can continue to take a leading role as we learn more in coming up with an appropriate regimen and protocol for returning to business. I think there's a recognition from them that this is bigger than our business, certainly bigger than sports, and that there is great symbolism around sports in this country, and that to the extent we do find a path back, it will be very meaningful for Americans."
Even if the league cannot play with fans in arenas, the NBA would certainly benefit financially by having games back on television. Shutting down the season would cost team owners television revenue and the league is already hurting by the preseason controversy with China, which Silver said during All-Star Weekend could cost the league close to $400 million in revenue.
While there has been speculation about different ways the league could resume play _ isolating players and personnel in one location, playing without fans or even skipping the remainder of the regular season and jumping right to the postseason _ Silver said that all ideas are welcome, but they are nothing more than speculation. And he said that a decision may not come for a while.
"There's a lot that's changing quickly," he said. "We may be in a very different position some number of weeks from now. But it was why I initially announced at the beginning of April that I felt with confidence we wouldn't be able to make any decisions in the month of April. I should clarify that I didn't mean to suggest that on May 1st, I would be in a position. I just think as I sit here today, there's too much unknown to set a timeline, even too much unknown to say, here are the precise variables.
"We know we need large-scale testing. As to the universal testing, there are different tests being proposed. They may have different uses in different situations. It goes without doubt that we have to ensure that front-line healthcare workers are taken care of before we begin talking about NBA players or sports."
