NBA boss wants to help players

NBA commissioner Adam Silver shows understanding for the concerns of some stars before the restart of the league and wants to work together with the players to find a solution.

Commissioner Adam Silver understands the concerns of some NBA players about the planned restart of the league in Orlando, Florida and is looking for solutions. “It’s not an ideal situation,” said the league boss at ESPN, but he wants to “work through most of the points together with the pros” in the coming weeks.

An alliance, including Kyrie Irving (Brooklyn Nets), vice president of the NBPA players’ union, will speak on behalf of professionals who are having problems with plans to continue the season. There are concerns, for example, that the NBA restart may take attention away from the intense fight against racism and social injustice in the US.

Silver: “Understand how some players feel”
“We are in the midst of a pandemic in search of our normality, in the midst of a recession with 40 million unemployed, plus there is enormous social unrest in the country,” Silver said. He “understands how some players feel.”

The worries could be “family” or “health” related, “or it could be that some professionals think it would be better to spend the time elsewhere. Corona risks are also an issue for the professionals. Damian Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers is not “100 percent” comfortable playing again after the virus has killed more than 116,000 people in the USA so far.

The NBA wants to continue its interrupted season from 31 July with 22 teams at Disney World in Orlando. The players should live in a closed bubble, similar to the final tournament of the Bundesliga. Apparently, this too is something that some professionals find upsetting.