The NBA is six weeks into its indefinite suspension with no official path forward to finishing the season. However, coaches across the league are keeping optimistic that there will be basketball in some capacity again to complete the 2019-20 season, even if it’s a vast change from normal.
Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr offered his take on resuming operations, telling ESPN’s Rachel Nichols that he’s in favor of the league bending its schedule to crown a champion.
“I would really love to see some conclusion to this season, if people’s health isn’t compromised obviously that’s the main thing,” Kerr said in an interview on The Jump. “Can we find a way to do it where nobody’s at risk, and we can have some competition that would allow the teams that are clearly the best teams in the league to compete against each other, I know it’s not the same thing, but if that’s the best we could do at minimum, it would be great to be able to do that.”
“If it were to push next season’s start time back a little bit, no problem, we can do that,” he added. “It’s not my department, but the league has talked about doing that anyway. With what is going on in the country, I think we have to be flexible.”
Denver Nuggets coach Mike Malone is staying realistic about what a potential restart could look like, with insiders suggesting games would continue without any fans and possibly in a neutral location.
“It’s going to be a really strange experience for everybody,” Malone said of potential closed-door games, via USA Today. “When there is a big play made, a blocked shot or a dunk or a 3-point shot, the crowd goes crazy. We feed off of that. We’re emotional beings. If you take that element out, it’s going to take a lot of time to get used to that. But if that allows us to play basketball once again and keep everybody safe, then obviously we have to accept that new reality.”
Malone also sang the praises of Commissioner Adam Silver for how the league is being handled during an unprecedented time.
“What I really respect about Adam Silver is he’s keeping everything open; no idea is a bad idea,” Malone said.
Silver himself recently spoke about the frustrating nature of trying to come up with official plans amid so much uncertainty. He maintained that the situation is evolving daily but is eyeing sometime in May to have more information needed to go forth with restarting the season.
