When the National Basketball Players Association voted to approve Adam Silver’s plan to finish the 2019-20 season by sending 22 teams to a Disney World bubble site in Orlando, not everyone got a say in that process. The NBPA is comprised of nine executive committee members, led by president Chris Paul, and one player representative from each of the 30 teams.
In theory, those 30 player reps would cast their vote after consulting with each of their teammates, so as to represent at least the majority of their voices and ultimate wishes, but that’s not always how it works, particularly during this ongoing NBA hiatus when players are spread out all over the world.
So here we are with this plan to drop 22 teams into a city and county where coronavirus cases are reportedly back on the surge. This is not a normal NBPA matter where a few can speak for the whole. The decision to enter yourself into a confined bubble site and play potentially eight weeks of basketball games in the middle of a pandemic is to assume a very obvious personal risk, and per Yahoo’s Chris Haynes, a significant number of players are not happy they didn’t get to vote on the return for themselves.
It’s important to note that Haynes also reports that not every player made himself available on conference calls prior to the NBPA’s approval of Silver’s plan. If you didn’t want to play and you didn’t make yourself available to make that opinion known, you can’t really complain.
Having said that, even among the players who did take part in a sort of informal polling, “several players have been reluctant” to speak up about not wanting to play under these conditions for fear of going against the group of superstars who have been vocal about wanting to return, according to Haynes.
It’s worth noting that in mid-May, Chris Paul organized a call that included LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis, Kawhi Leonard, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Stephen Curry, Damian Lillard and Russell Westbrook. On that call, there was a collective commitment to continuing the season once it was deemed safe. Those are some pretty powerful voices.
But again, that was a month ago, and conditions are changing — not just in terms of rising COVID-19 cases, but also as the fight for racial equality continues to play out all over the world in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police. From Haynes:
The unease about relocating to a quarantined campus during the COVID-19 pandemic was already viewed as hazardous and unnecessary to many players. But because of the George Floyd tragedy and the powerful movement for racial justice that’s sweeping the nation, some players believe it’s bad optics for a league comprised predominantly of black men to be sequestered in one location for up to three months merely to entertain the masses and ease the league’s economic burden, sources said.
“What message are we sending by agreeing to this during this time?” a black player told Yahoo Sports. “We’re out here marching and protesting, and yet we all leave our families in these scary times and gather to perform at a place where the owners won’t be at? What type of sense does that make? We’ll be going backwards. That place isn’t that magical.”
You start to add all this up, and it begs the question whether the NBA’s plan to return to action will actually come to fruition. A lot can change by the end of July. A lot is already changing. Even if the plan remains a go for the whole, individual players have the right to sit out if they’re not comfortable playing. They won’t be paid, but they can sit out.
To that point, Pacers guard Malcolm Brogdon, who serves as vice president on the NBPA executive committee, recently said on the JJ Redick podcast that he’s talked to “several” players who are seriously considering opting out of Orlando.
“I’ve talked to a few guys that are super interested in sitting out possibly,” Brogdon told Redick. “I was actually talking to Chris Paul the other day and he said, ‘Man, this is an individual decision that every man has to make for himself.’ I think that’s exactly what it is. I think it depends on your perspective.”
As long as we’re talking perspectives, from a PR perspective, if a big group suddenly comes out and refuses to travel to Orlando, or if COVID-19 cases continue to rise as the country continues to lift stay-at-home orders and re-open its doors to the virus, does the NBA really want to look like it’s putting the almighty dollar ahead of worldwide health and social unrest?
This is to say nothing of Friday’s message coming from Bleacher Report’s Taylor Rooks, who tweeted in response to Haynes’ report: “I’ve spoken to multiple players, about five days ago there was a zoom call of about 50 players discussing what they can do to take a stand. They are planning another call [Friday night] with about 150 players to solidify what that stand is and stress this only works if they unify.”
Adding to Rooks’ information, Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck reported there is also a growing number of players, particularly big-name players, who have such an issue with the strict bubble precautions that they “would refuse to play” unless they are altered.
In other words, some players are highly concerned about the health risks of contracting and/or spreading COVID-19, yet others don’t want to the bubble to be so restrictive, which makes for very little common ground in an already divisive situation. So we can only really say this: The plan to return is moving ahead for now, but it’s becoming increasingly cleat this is ultimately a wait-and-see situation.
