Cleveland Cavaliers legend LeBron James, who is now a Los Angeles Laker, is of the firm belief that the 2019-20 NBA season shouldn’t be cancelled.
It’s unclear if the 2019-20 NBA season will eventually resume at some point due to concerns related to the novel coronavirus pandemic, and currently, the season is on hiatus for the Cleveland Cavaliers and other clubs.
In terms of reported updates regarding individual workouts seemingly available for some/accommodations to come for other clubs this month, you can view those here.
Plus on Tuesday in an appearance on 92.3 The Fan’s “Bull & Fox,” Sports Illustrated‘s Chris Mannix said how if there is an eventual season resumption, he believes it’s “most likely” that the season go right to the postseason. That’s essentially after teams in it would have a training camp-type time period.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported that the NBA is considering utilizing Walt Disney World Resort as a possible bubble-type location to resume the season, where I’d imagine some remaining regular season games could be played prior to a postseason. This idea was first suggested by Yahoo! Sports’ Keith Smith earlier this month, though, as was h/t Orlando Magic Daily’s Philip Rossman-Reich.
At this point, however, it is not definitive as to whether or not we will see the current season resume. According to CNBC’s Jabari Young (as was h/t LeBron Wire’s Erik Garcia Gundersen), some agents and league executives are seemingly of the opinion that the season should be cancelled, of which Young had more to add.
"“Team executives are starting to feel the pressure, frustrated with the lack of information from the league and pushing for an outright cancellation of the season so everyone can focus on safely resuming play next season.NBA team executives and players’ agents spoke to CNBC in recent weeks about the challenges in resuming play. They said team owners are concerned with liability issues and are conflicted about whether or not to give up on the current season.”"
It is again uncertain at this moment about if the NBA’s 2019-20 season will resume at some point down the road, but one thing is for certain.
The best player in Cleveland Cavaliers history, LeBron James, who is now in his second season with the Los Angeles Lakers, is of the firm belief that the season shouldn’t be cancelled, and that when “it’s safe” his Lakers want to finish the year out, along with seemingly other players around the league. James basically refuted Young’s report as well.
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. 👑
— LeBron James (@KingJames) April 30, 2020
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Player safety is what the NBA and commissioner Adam Silver are of course always stressing here in regards to COVID-19, and they are continuing to exercise precaution when it comes to potentially resuming practice for teams/play.
It is abundantly clear that James, though, is again all for the league eventually resuming play and some how finding a way to have the postseason/a champion.
James is currently the key cog on the number one seed in the Western Conference in the Lakers at this point, and on the year, he’s averaged 25.7 points, a league-leading 10.6 assists per game (per NBA.com), to go with 7.9 rebounds and 1.2 steals. It’s far from shocking that he wants the league to find a way to finish the season out.
In relation to the Cavaliers, who are amid a rebuild, they currently have the league’s second-worst record, but it’s been at least nice to see pieces such as Collin Sexton, Darius Garland and Kevin Porter Jr. play a bunch of meaningful minutes for their development this season. All three are promising players for the Wine and Gold, too.
So again, it is evident that James wants to some how finish the current season out, but it’s not certain either way what will be the case. The novel coronavirus pandemic has such a profound impact all over, and we just don’t know right now, nor does Silver.
At any rate, it is pretty darn cool to me that LeBron, who was truly instrumental in helping found the “I Promise School” in nearby Akron, his hometown, will be backing a virtual graduation ceremony for the 2020 high school class honoring seniors around the country on May 16, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. That will be involving his foundation joining up “with the XQ Institute and the Entertainment Institute Foundation,” McMenamin noted.
McMenamin also said that this special, which will feature James, “Nobel prize winner Malala Yousafzai, soccer star Megan Rapinoe and musical acts Bad Bunny, the Jonas Brothers, Pharrell Wiliams and others will be simulcast across ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC, as well as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, TikTok and other streaming services.”
Nonetheless, while it’s clear James wants the NBA’s current season to resume at some point, we truly don’t know whether or not that will be the case.