Following a wild week in the news, I find myself sitting at the computer on a Friday night with nothing to do. I can't go out to a movie or party and I can't even play 2K because Xbox is down. I can't stay home and watch Basketball or even Baseball either. Why? Because of the Corona Virus.
After a weekend of growing concern over the Corona Virus, the NBA had announced that it would play games without fans in the arena, and only "essential staff" in would be in attendance in order to keep the players, and other people, safe from the new illness. A few short days later, NBA center and Utah Jazz All Star Rudy Gobert was found to have Corona Virus, and soon after the NBA declared that the season was "suspended."
Initially, I was extremely upset to see such an amazing season go to waste. Lebron's 17th year, Giannis' possible back to back MVPs, a possible (and probable) Lakers championship. There was so much to look forward to. It took me a while to look past that and read the term "suspended", which at the very least implies that there is hope to close the season out in some way.
So...what exactly does a suspended NBA look like. Lets break it down.
Now that the season has been suspended, players will stop seeing their paychecks coming in, and will likely have to pay back some money that has already been received-and potentially a lot of it.
The employees of many different stadiums in which the teams play will also not see work for at least 30 days. This means thousands of people without pay for a month. Kevin Love, Center for the Cleveland Cavaliers, vowed $100,000 to the employees who work for the Cavs game, and encouraged his team to follow suit. Many other NBA stars have made contributions since, and teams have begun to create plans to make sure their employees are payed during the suspended season.
Finally, it would be tough to calculate the amount of money that will be lost during these thirty days, but it wouldn't be a stretch of the imagination to say that it will be massive. Organizations and players and sponsors and owners and stations all rely on these games happening. Sports carry a large culture and market outside of the teams themselves, and this will surely take a big hit.
In terms of the season itself, many players will be effected in different ways. Vince Carter may have just retired because of something completely unrelated to basketball. Lebron James will be another year older. Zion Williamson will have more time to shed a few pounds. The point is, the league will look completely different even if this season were to resume given the amount of time that may pass. There could be major and massive unforeseen changes to the NBA landscape without a single trade being made. Klay Thompsen, Kyrie Irving, Joel Embiid, and Kevin Durant might all be healthy by the time the season resumes, which already makes the entire NBA look different.
The effects of this suspension are sure to be wide reaching, and many more updates will come over the next few weeks.