NBA
Will the NBA pause the 2021 season?
Discussions on NBA teams signing reinforcements to 10-day contracts are taking place after a total of seven games were postponed due to covid-19 protocols.
Sunday, the NBA postponed five more games involving nine teams amid the rise of coronavirus numbers. A total of seven games have now been postponed in the League.
Called off were two Nets games, one against the Denver Nuggets on Sunday and the other against the Washington Wizards on Tuesday. Sunday’s Cleveland at Atlanta and New Orleans at Philadelphia were also postponed, and Monday’s game between Orlando and Toronto.
The postponements were announced the same day star guard Trae Young and Los Angeles Lakers head coach Frank Vogel entered the league’s health and safety protocols.
In addition, the NBA has seen at least 68 players who were added to the list in the last few weeks because of testing positive or being exposed to someone who has.
The league has not announced when these games will be made up, but is slowly getting closer to last season’s rate of postponed games; a total of 30 games in the 2020 NBA season were pushed back due to coronavirus.
Will the NBA pause the 2021 season?
Last week, National Basketball Players Association and the NBA announced elevated testing after Christmas Day, where all players and staff will be tested on game days- with the exception of those who received their booster shot 14-plus days earlier or recently recovered from the virus. However, the league has not indicated whether a pause into the 2021 season will be put in place.
At the moment there are teams without sufficient players to play, including the Brooklyn Nets, with 10 players only.
“It is what it is,” said Lakers guard Russell Westbrook. “Just trying to stay as safe as possible and that’s all you can do.”
NBPA and NBA discussing 10-day contracts
Teams desperate for players might have a chance to sign reinforcements to 10-day contracts, as long as those deals don’t affect salary cap and luxury tax.
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Discussions are taking place in the league and the NBPA, but no deals have yet been finalized.