NBA is About to Make the MLB Look Like Greedy Fools With Latest Season Restart News
By Sam Dunn
Major League Baseball was so close to setting the perfect example for the rest of North America's team sports in forging a path to kicking off its 2020 season with actual live games as soon as July. Fortunes have shifted dramatically in past two weeks, however, as the league and the players' union are embroiled in a bitter standoff over how to split the year's revenues. The impasse actually runs the risk of scuttling the season.
Meanwhile, per ESPN's Ramona Shelburne, the NBA has quietly gone from seemingly preparing to declare its halted 2019-20 campaign dead to suddenly creating a path toward resumption. There's still a lot to hash out in their ambitious Orlando-based blueprint, but if they pull it off, we'll be looking at a significant triumph in the face of COVID-19 adversity -- and an embarrassing blow taken right on the chin of the MLB.
The NBA has entered into exploratory conversations with the Walt Disney Corporation about restarting the remainder of its season at Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida in late July, NBA spokesperson Mike Bass said Saturday.
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) May 23, 2020
At approximatly 220 acres, Disney's Wide World of Sports complex in Orlando is no slouch, and Walt Disney World overall is about the size of San Francisco (!). The league won't be lacking for space to ensure both proper accommodations for players, coaches, and essential staff, but also the kind of social distancing and coronavirus testing infrastructure that will be vitally necessary for play.
Sure, it won't feel like the NBA if fans aren't packing the Staples Center, but this plan really could work. And most importantly, this is a league that's ultimately run by the players. They wield legitimate power, and won't be strong-armed into raw deals or false choices. This is the single biggest organizational advantage that the NBA has over baseball (to say nothing of the dictatorial NFL, which is a whole different exploitative disaster).
The following is a statement from NBA Chief Communications Officer Mike Bass: pic.twitter.com/8gfK5iVXs8
— NBA (@NBA) May 23, 2020
Opposing parties have to work together and make concessions in order for sports to resume, period. There's a long way to go before the 2019-20 basketball season can resume and eventually crown a champion, but per Shelburne's report, things are anything but dead in the water.
If only the MLB and its owners could unscramble their greedy brains and manage similar progress.