A Decision in June: How the NBA Plans to Return?

If you're among the fans who are hoping to see a playoff slugfest between LeBron James and Kawhi Leonard, chances are you'/re going to get what you wished for assuming that both National Basketball Association (NBA) teams of Los Angeles manage to reach the Western Conference Finals. 

With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that not just shut down in the United States but around the world, millions of NBA fans haven't witnessed a live NBA game since March and with no vaccine for the said virus in sight, the wait appears to be longer and more agonizing. Then, a glimpse of hope gives fans something to be exciting in these trying times. Last week, NBA Commissioner Adan Silver has announced that the league is allowing NBA teams to open their respective training facilities on May 15 as long as the local governments where the teams are playing will allow them to do so. It was also reported that NBA players and staff are now being asked to help medical researchers in conducting a study that will potentially allow researchers to finally come out with a solution to end this pandemic. The aim of the said study is to determine how antibody testing could help the medical experts to finally understand the virus and once and for all, put an end to this pandemic.

But the biggest question is this: Will the NBA still going to complete the 2019-2020 season?

The answer to the question is this: Most likely.

While sources claim that the NBA will wait until June to make a decision on how the league will move forward, Adam Silver has already laid out the plans on how the 2020 NBA playoffs could push thru assuming that's the road the  NBA will take on.

Considering that there's no solution to the COVID-19 problem just yet, it's inevitable that the NBA will hold behind-closed-doors games when the season resumes. And all teams from each conference that will be competing in the playoffs will be staying in one place: either in Las Vegas or inside Walt Disney World. This will eliminate the need for teams to travel from one city to the other every now and then and more importantly, it will be easier for the league to manage everything as having teams in one or two as Adam Silver also added that the league will conduct daily testing once the season resumes whenever that may be.  And yes, Silver said that every round of the playoffs will be a seven-game series.

In the end, the NBA commissioner also noted that as long as the vaccine against COVID-19 is not yet ready, playing the 2020-2021 season behind-closed-doors is a possibility and whether we like it or not, we need to get used to this new normal. After all, if the NBA does return this year, we still have something to be thankful for. That's more than what we can ask for.   

Photo is from CBS Sports