Might as well just make it a knockout tournament like the NCAA. One game only, win or go home. That would make the crowning of a champion real quick.
New Album & The Beginning of Basketball Season
- Thread starter Ron Party
- Start date
Might as well just make it a knockout tournament like the NCAA. One game only, win or go home. That would make the crowning of a champion real quick.
The reality is (I think) that the trend to move forward and salvage the season is coming from the owners more so than the players although many players do want to play. However those who want to play are those that were in strong contention at the time they shut it down.
Maybe rather than 16 teams perhaps only the best 4 from the east and 4 from the west and create a playoff that way.
Long and the short is that yesterday Sir Charles announced that he is 100% certain that basketball is returning
as for asterisks, that doesn't bother me a bit as there have been asterisks in every sport. If the season is called off there WILL be an asterisk for this year which shows no winner
There is also the college draft to consider how that will go if there are no final standings
Maybe rather than 16 teams perhaps only the best 4 from the east and 4 from the west and create a playoff that way.
Long and the short is that yesterday Sir Charles announced that he is 100% certain that basketball is returning
as for asterisks, that doesn't bother me a bit as there have been asterisks in every sport. If the season is called off there WILL be an asterisk for this year which shows no winner
There is also the college draft to consider how that will go if there are no final standings
as for Lillard's comments that he will play only if he has true opportunity for playoffs. I agree with that and that is why I would take the top for from the East and top 4 from the west and the rest are done.
Play a round robin tournament of some sort rather than grueling 7 game series which will prolong it
To play until you lose makes no sense to me. I would rather call the season than determine a winner in a total sudden death playoff
Play a round robin tournament of some sort rather than grueling 7 game series which will prolong it
To play until you lose makes no sense to me. I would rather call the season than determine a winner in a total sudden death playoff
is this fake news???
IT'S OFFICIAL: NBA PLANS TO RESTART SEASON IN JULY AT DISNEY WORLD ORLANDO
by Casey Holdahl
Posted: May 23, 2020
https://www.nba.com/blazers/forward...lans-restart-season-july-disney-world-orlando
IT'S OFFICIAL: NBA PLANS TO RESTART SEASON IN JULY AT DISNEY WORLD ORLANDO
by Casey Holdahl
Posted: May 23, 2020
https://www.nba.com/blazers/forward...lans-restart-season-july-disney-world-orlando
Mark Cuban suggests play-in tournament for final 2 seeds for NBA playoffs
http://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=29225824
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has suggested a plan to the NBA league office that would include all 30 NBA teams playing five to seven regular-season games before a play-in tournament to determine the final two playoff seeds, he told ESPN on Tuesday.
Cuban considers it a must for all 30 teams to participate in the resumption of the NBA season, tentatively planned to take place at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, because of the financial impact of fulfilling local television contracts.
In Cuban's proposal, the top 10 teams from each conference would qualify for the postseason and be reseeded based on record. There would be two play-in matchups -- either single games or a best-of-three series -- pitting seeds 17 vs. 20 and 18 vs. 19. The winners would advance to play the 15th and 16th seeds for the final spots in the playoff bracket.
The playoffs would then proceed with best-of-seven series.
A point Cuban emphasizes is that all but two teams -- the exceptions being the Minnesota Timberwolves and Golden State Warriors -- would have a mathematical possibility of qualifying for the postseason under his proposal. The Cleveland Cavaliers and Atlanta Hawks, the teams at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings, are four games behind the 10th-place Charlotte Hornets.
"It's fair. It's entertaining," Cuban told ESPN.
Cuban's Mavericks would have the most to lose in a play-in scenario under previously discussed terms, which would include the teams that are seventh through 10th in the conference standings.
The Mavs are seventh in the Western Conference standings with a 40-27 record, seven games ahead of the eighth-place Memphis Grizzlies.
Cuban acknowledges it would be challenging to schedule all the games required to make his proposal work. However, he believes it is the plan that would best address the league's financial issues and desire for competitive fairness, as well as allowing playoff teams to ramp up for the postseason, hopefully limiting injuries after a long layoff.
Cuban's concern with the reported World Cup-style group stage idea, aside from not including all 30 teams, is that it "throws away the value of the whole season."
http://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=29225824
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has suggested a plan to the NBA league office that would include all 30 NBA teams playing five to seven regular-season games before a play-in tournament to determine the final two playoff seeds, he told ESPN on Tuesday.
Cuban considers it a must for all 30 teams to participate in the resumption of the NBA season, tentatively planned to take place at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, because of the financial impact of fulfilling local television contracts.
In Cuban's proposal, the top 10 teams from each conference would qualify for the postseason and be reseeded based on record. There would be two play-in matchups -- either single games or a best-of-three series -- pitting seeds 17 vs. 20 and 18 vs. 19. The winners would advance to play the 15th and 16th seeds for the final spots in the playoff bracket.
The playoffs would then proceed with best-of-seven series.
A point Cuban emphasizes is that all but two teams -- the exceptions being the Minnesota Timberwolves and Golden State Warriors -- would have a mathematical possibility of qualifying for the postseason under his proposal. The Cleveland Cavaliers and Atlanta Hawks, the teams at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings, are four games behind the 10th-place Charlotte Hornets.
"It's fair. It's entertaining," Cuban told ESPN.
Cuban's Mavericks would have the most to lose in a play-in scenario under previously discussed terms, which would include the teams that are seventh through 10th in the conference standings.
The Mavs are seventh in the Western Conference standings with a 40-27 record, seven games ahead of the eighth-place Memphis Grizzlies.
Cuban acknowledges it would be challenging to schedule all the games required to make his proposal work. However, he believes it is the plan that would best address the league's financial issues and desire for competitive fairness, as well as allowing playoff teams to ramp up for the postseason, hopefully limiting injuries after a long layoff.
Cuban's concern with the reported World Cup-style group stage idea, aside from not including all 30 teams, is that it "throws away the value of the whole season."
Hockey, golf, tennis, baseball and football are back.
It's a bad year for any sport however I don't see any lesser risk with football or hockey or any contact sport for that matter
It's a bad year for any sport however I don't see any lesser risk with football or hockey or any contact sport for that matter
My son told me last night that the tourney, if it happens, should be given a different name, as in the pro wrestling, there is Wrestlemania, and there is another tourney event, called Summer Slam. 
How bout 'Silver's Cup'?
https://tv5.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/29229859/what-new-version-nba-playoffs-look-like
"The complaint you hear in league circles about such concepts -- play-in tournaments, World Cup-style pool play -- is that they are gimmicky, and too far from what fans and the keepers of the game consider legitimate proceedings. This season's champion, should the season get that far, will already face the dreaded asterisk. "
How bout 'Silver's Cup'? https://tv5.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/29229859/what-new-version-nba-playoffs-look-like
"The complaint you hear in league circles about such concepts -- play-in tournaments, World Cup-style pool play -- is that they are gimmicky, and too far from what fans and the keepers of the game consider legitimate proceedings. This season's champion, should the season get that far, will already face the dreaded asterisk. "
The knicks might finally be going in the right direction
Report: Knicks have Tom Thibodeau as top candidate for next coach
New York reportedly will begin its search process for a new coach soon
From NBA media reports
Tom Thibodeau could be making a return to the sidelines.
The New York Knicks will begin their coaching search soon and Thibodeau is currently the top candidate, according to The Athletic.
The Knicks fired coach David Fizdale in December after a 4-18 start. Since then, Mike Miller has served as interim coach.
Miller, according to The Athletic, is expected to receive an interview once the search process is officially underway. Former Brooklyn Nets coach Kenny Atkinson is reportedly likely to receive an interview as well.
Thibodeau has not coached since January of 2019, when he was fired from the Minnesota Timberwolves as both coach and president of basketball operations. He's assembled a 352-246 coaching record between his stints with Minnesota and the Chicago Bulls.
He led Chicago to the playoffs in each of his five seasons as coach, including a trip to the Eastern Conference finals in 2011. His tenure with the Timberwolves, which lasted 2 ½ seasons, featured a playoff berth that ended the franchise’s 14-year playoff drought.
The Knicks and president of basketball operations Leon Rose will reportedly be targeting their next coach "within the next few weeks," but the timetable could be impacted by the NBA's decision on how to approach the upcoming season, per The Athletic.
New York is 21-45 and sits at 12th in the Eastern Conference.
Report: Knicks have Tom Thibodeau as top candidate for next coach
New York reportedly will begin its search process for a new coach soon
From NBA media reports
Tom Thibodeau could be making a return to the sidelines.
The New York Knicks will begin their coaching search soon and Thibodeau is currently the top candidate, according to The Athletic.
The Knicks fired coach David Fizdale in December after a 4-18 start. Since then, Mike Miller has served as interim coach.
Miller, according to The Athletic, is expected to receive an interview once the search process is officially underway. Former Brooklyn Nets coach Kenny Atkinson is reportedly likely to receive an interview as well.
Thibodeau has not coached since January of 2019, when he was fired from the Minnesota Timberwolves as both coach and president of basketball operations. He's assembled a 352-246 coaching record between his stints with Minnesota and the Chicago Bulls.
He led Chicago to the playoffs in each of his five seasons as coach, including a trip to the Eastern Conference finals in 2011. His tenure with the Timberwolves, which lasted 2 ½ seasons, featured a playoff berth that ended the franchise’s 14-year playoff drought.
The Knicks and president of basketball operations Leon Rose will reportedly be targeting their next coach "within the next few weeks," but the timetable could be impacted by the NBA's decision on how to approach the upcoming season, per The Athletic.
New York is 21-45 and sits at 12th in the Eastern Conference.
I thought this was interesting read...
What the new version of the NBA playoffs should look like
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/29229859/what-new-version-nba-playoffs-look-like
What the new version of the NBA playoffs should look like
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/29229859/what-new-version-nba-playoffs-look-like
I now feel this resumption of play is not just a league that will have ** but it will be a league of 'IFs'. What if one player or even a staff member or arena worker tests positive in the heat of the best of 7 'finals', game 3, for example, will Adam Silver pronounce 'game on' ? After all these forcible acts to mandate a resumption of the league, it will be hard to imagine that Silver will stop the tournament. But then again, he just might not.
He’d be great to get them on track I think, but tends to wear everyone down after a few years.
Report: No consensus yet on NBA return-to-play plan
Tim Reynolds | The Associated Press
The NBA Board of Governors met again without a consensus opinion emerging on how many teams should be back on the floor for the planned late-July resumption of the pandemic-interrupted season, three people familiar with details of the call said Friday.
The people, speaking on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press because no details of the call were publicly released, said Commissioner Adam Silver is still collecting information on multiple options ranging from 16 to 30 teams returning to action when the season begins again at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex near Orlando, Florida.
One person said the idea of bringing back 20 teams -- possibly a few more, but not all 30 -- continues to resonate as the most likely scenario, as of now. Another plan discussed Friday, the person said, would bring any team within six games of a playoff spot back for the resumption of the season, a scenario where based on the current standings 13 teams from the Western Conference and nine from the Eastern Conference would return.
Silver, who has been closely working with the National Basketball Players Association, has not revealed when or how a formal decision will ultimately be made. ESPN reported that the league is planning a Thursday vote to ratify whatever proposal Silver recommends.
Given the league’s known hope to be back on the court by the end of July, Silver’s decision would likely have to come very soon. Not all team practice facilities have reopened for voluntary workouts, meaning there could be some players who haven’t done any on-court work since the league suspended the season on March 11 in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Jared Dudley of the Los Angeles Lakers wrote on Twitter that Silver has said the season could go into early October before finishing, and added that a later start to next season gives “more time to (potentially) have some sort of fans” back in the stands.
The New York Knicks and Washington Wizards opened their facilities Friday for the first time since the shutdown started, and the Boston Celtics said they will do the same on Monday. The only teams left at this point without a known reopening plan for their practice facilities are Detroit, San Antonio and Golden State.
Teams that are open can have a maximum of four players in a facility simultaneously at this point, with none of them allowed to work out together or even play 1-on-1. The belief has been that the league will ramp up what’s allowed within the voluntary workouts before setting a date for a training camp that would precede the resumption of the season.
Countless questions remain unanswered after the Board of Governors call, including the playoff format, if additional regular season games -- roughly 21% of the league’s schedule remained when the season was stopped -- would be played and if so, how that schedule would work.
Details of what the league’s testing plan would be are also somewhat unclear, though it’s almost certain that any program would involve all players and staff being checked very regularly and possibly even daily once the season resumes.
Another very big issue is money.
The NBA has the right, per the Collective Bargaining Agreement, to exercise a clause and recoup roughly 1.08% of each player’s salary for every regular-season game that is canceled for unforeseen circumstances such as a pandemic. The NBPA has not responded to requests for comment on how the financial implications of lost games would affect players.
But If some teams are not brought back when the season resumes and more regular season games are played, then it would seem possible for some players could lose a much larger percentage of their salary than others would.
Tim Reynolds | The Associated Press
The NBA Board of Governors met again without a consensus opinion emerging on how many teams should be back on the floor for the planned late-July resumption of the pandemic-interrupted season, three people familiar with details of the call said Friday.
The people, speaking on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press because no details of the call were publicly released, said Commissioner Adam Silver is still collecting information on multiple options ranging from 16 to 30 teams returning to action when the season begins again at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex near Orlando, Florida.
One person said the idea of bringing back 20 teams -- possibly a few more, but not all 30 -- continues to resonate as the most likely scenario, as of now. Another plan discussed Friday, the person said, would bring any team within six games of a playoff spot back for the resumption of the season, a scenario where based on the current standings 13 teams from the Western Conference and nine from the Eastern Conference would return.
Silver, who has been closely working with the National Basketball Players Association, has not revealed when or how a formal decision will ultimately be made. ESPN reported that the league is planning a Thursday vote to ratify whatever proposal Silver recommends.
Given the league’s known hope to be back on the court by the end of July, Silver’s decision would likely have to come very soon. Not all team practice facilities have reopened for voluntary workouts, meaning there could be some players who haven’t done any on-court work since the league suspended the season on March 11 in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Jared Dudley of the Los Angeles Lakers wrote on Twitter that Silver has said the season could go into early October before finishing, and added that a later start to next season gives “more time to (potentially) have some sort of fans” back in the stands.
The New York Knicks and Washington Wizards opened their facilities Friday for the first time since the shutdown started, and the Boston Celtics said they will do the same on Monday. The only teams left at this point without a known reopening plan for their practice facilities are Detroit, San Antonio and Golden State.
Teams that are open can have a maximum of four players in a facility simultaneously at this point, with none of them allowed to work out together or even play 1-on-1. The belief has been that the league will ramp up what’s allowed within the voluntary workouts before setting a date for a training camp that would precede the resumption of the season.
Countless questions remain unanswered after the Board of Governors call, including the playoff format, if additional regular season games -- roughly 21% of the league’s schedule remained when the season was stopped -- would be played and if so, how that schedule would work.
Details of what the league’s testing plan would be are also somewhat unclear, though it’s almost certain that any program would involve all players and staff being checked very regularly and possibly even daily once the season resumes.
Another very big issue is money.
The NBA has the right, per the Collective Bargaining Agreement, to exercise a clause and recoup roughly 1.08% of each player’s salary for every regular-season game that is canceled for unforeseen circumstances such as a pandemic. The NBPA has not responded to requests for comment on how the financial implications of lost games would affect players.
But If some teams are not brought back when the season resumes and more regular season games are played, then it would seem possible for some players could lose a much larger percentage of their salary than others would.
How the trust between Adam Silver and Chris Paul will shape the NBA's restart
Brian Windhorst
ESPN Senior Writer
When speaking with players, coaches, executives, referees and even typically skeptical agents in recent weeks, their display of support for Adam Silver reveals a remarkable building of capital in his six years as NBA commissioner.
Under his leadership, the league and its partners have gotten richer. Silver has expanded support of players using their voices and platforms to make stands on social justice, and he has worked to open conversations and expand resources for mental health concerns.
In this uncertain and pressure-infused time, the currency Silver has developed could prove valuable. This seems to be particularly true with the players, as Silver must secure two deals with their union over the next few months that could test the limits of the relationship.
Silver has not been preparing for this exact moment, but he has been preparing for some big moment. He is known for high character and compassion, but he's also a savvy lawyer and negotiator. It is hard to be both, especially in such a public role.
First, Silver has to make a deal with the players to finish the season, to play in Walt Disney World this summer. That likely will include personal sacrifices and health risks on top of additional salary losses. Then the sides will have to move on to next season, which could necessitate a partial or complete renegotiation of the collective bargaining agreement under the duress of evaporating revenue.
It might be the biggest task of any commissioner in the league's history to navigate both in such a time frame. He'll have to do it in a way that satisfies his bosses in the 30 owners. And he'll have to do it while avoiding mutiny from players who could see large reductions in what were once guaranteed contracts. During a pandemic.
At the heart of this endeavor is the close relationship Silver has with the president of the union, Oklahoma City Thunder guard Chris Paul. That partnership has developed over nearly 15 years of working on varying levels of projects behind the scenes.
Silver, Paul and union executive director Michele Roberts put together a tiring but relatively peaceful CBA extension after months of talks in 2016. In a signature moment for both, Paul won concessions for superstar players -- clearly a goal -- and Silver avoided a work stoppage. Considering two of the previous three CBAs put together by previous commissioner David Stern involved lockouts, this was not a minor feat.
At the time, that was Paul and Silver's biggest joint accomplishment but hardly their first. In 2006, when Paul was a second-year player and Silver had just been promoted to deputy commissioner, the young point guard called Silver to register a complaint about the synthetic leather balls that had been introduced. Silver later played a role in the decision to scrap the new ball.
Years later, in 2013, when Silver had been named commissioner-in-waiting and Paul had been elected to the union's executive board, they worked together to get kinesio tape approved for use after the league had initially banned it, which had angered players.
So by last summer, when Paul called Silver to suggest implementing the Elam Ending to the All-Star Game, conversations yielding changes between these two power brokers had become routine. When Silver called Paul the day Kobe Bryant died to consult him on whether games should be played, it just showed how deep and important the issues they work on have become.
As the COVID-19 crisis has persisted, Paul and Silver have routinely been in touch. Paul recently told ESPN's Royce Young that he makes sure multiple players are involved in talking with Silver during the suspension -- that it's not just him.
But as with so many issues over the past decade-plus, Paul and Silver have been at the heart of plans to restart the league, sources said.
NBA season suspended
When Roberts told ESPN last week that the players might not even voteon a plan to return to play, that statement caught some agents by surprise and left them reviewing the union's bylaws, which do not require such a vote.
It's not that Roberts, who recently has been holding calls with every team to provide information and receive feedback, is trying to hurry the process. It's that Silver has made sure Paul and Roberts have had a seat at the table over the past three months as all this has unfolded. The union recently formed a players' committee, led by Paul and joined by Kyle Lowry, Dwight Powell, Russell Westbrook and Jayson Tatum, to further consult with Silver and some of his top officials as the process unfolds. In this way the union has, in some respects, voted along the way.
One such example is the union's preference to allow some family into a quarantined campus, which the league has made a priority for weeks as it has pieced plans together.
This is a contrast to what has happened in similar negotiations, like with Major League Baseball, in which the trading of proposals for a return-to-play model has been acrimonious. It's possible the NBA's talks could turn that way eventually -- especially as matters of compensation come to the forefront -- but Silver's inclusion of the union along the way might give him a better chance of reaching an agreement despite the unpleasant nature of the issue.
When holding a call with all players several weeks ago, Silver listened to virus-related concerns and vowed to tell teams not to pressure players to return to facilities after it was raised as a concern. But he was also frank about the league's financial position to prepare everyone for tough concessions ahead.
The league has the right to cancel the remaining 259 regular-season games, potentially wiping out more than $600 million in salaries (players are already having their paychecks docked to prepare for this). Yet despite having that hammer outlined within the current labor deal, Silver needs to get the union to agree to issues not covered by the CBA: playing games in the summer, entering a quarantine for weeks and adding some playoff play-in games for which there is no established salary structure.
A big reason Silver has been so popular is because the NBA has enjoyed massive revenue growth during his tenure in the wake of the $24 billion media rights deal he negotiated in his first months in the role in 2014.
When the NBA made that deal, rookies made a minimum of $500,000 and most veteran players made a minimum of $1.4 million. Today the rookie minimum is $900,000 and the most veteran players make at least $2.5 million. By 2014, only two star players had ever earned over $30 million in one season: Michael Jordan (twice) and Kobe Bryant (once). This season, 20 players were contracted to earn more than $30 million.
In the same time frame, average team values have increased from $630 million to $2.1 billion, per Forbes. Three teams have sold for more than $2 billion, and owners have seen borrowing power against their equity rise from $175 million to $325 million per team.
But now comes the pivot of how to manage money going out the door instead of coming in. The league might have to revamp how teams share revenue with each other and how players share money with owners. Silver might simply have to say no to some people. He might have to deal with players and their family members testing positive for the coronavirus because of an attempt to finish the season.
This is unfamiliar territory and a stress test to Silver's way of doing business. By the time next season comes, if the relationships the NBA commissioner has cultivated with all parties come away unscathed, it will be a minor miracle.
Brian Windhorst
ESPN Senior Writer
When speaking with players, coaches, executives, referees and even typically skeptical agents in recent weeks, their display of support for Adam Silver reveals a remarkable building of capital in his six years as NBA commissioner.
Under his leadership, the league and its partners have gotten richer. Silver has expanded support of players using their voices and platforms to make stands on social justice, and he has worked to open conversations and expand resources for mental health concerns.
In this uncertain and pressure-infused time, the currency Silver has developed could prove valuable. This seems to be particularly true with the players, as Silver must secure two deals with their union over the next few months that could test the limits of the relationship.
Silver has not been preparing for this exact moment, but he has been preparing for some big moment. He is known for high character and compassion, but he's also a savvy lawyer and negotiator. It is hard to be both, especially in such a public role.
First, Silver has to make a deal with the players to finish the season, to play in Walt Disney World this summer. That likely will include personal sacrifices and health risks on top of additional salary losses. Then the sides will have to move on to next season, which could necessitate a partial or complete renegotiation of the collective bargaining agreement under the duress of evaporating revenue.
It might be the biggest task of any commissioner in the league's history to navigate both in such a time frame. He'll have to do it in a way that satisfies his bosses in the 30 owners. And he'll have to do it while avoiding mutiny from players who could see large reductions in what were once guaranteed contracts. During a pandemic.
At the heart of this endeavor is the close relationship Silver has with the president of the union, Oklahoma City Thunder guard Chris Paul. That partnership has developed over nearly 15 years of working on varying levels of projects behind the scenes.
Silver, Paul and union executive director Michele Roberts put together a tiring but relatively peaceful CBA extension after months of talks in 2016. In a signature moment for both, Paul won concessions for superstar players -- clearly a goal -- and Silver avoided a work stoppage. Considering two of the previous three CBAs put together by previous commissioner David Stern involved lockouts, this was not a minor feat.
At the time, that was Paul and Silver's biggest joint accomplishment but hardly their first. In 2006, when Paul was a second-year player and Silver had just been promoted to deputy commissioner, the young point guard called Silver to register a complaint about the synthetic leather balls that had been introduced. Silver later played a role in the decision to scrap the new ball.
Years later, in 2013, when Silver had been named commissioner-in-waiting and Paul had been elected to the union's executive board, they worked together to get kinesio tape approved for use after the league had initially banned it, which had angered players.
So by last summer, when Paul called Silver to suggest implementing the Elam Ending to the All-Star Game, conversations yielding changes between these two power brokers had become routine. When Silver called Paul the day Kobe Bryant died to consult him on whether games should be played, it just showed how deep and important the issues they work on have become.
As the COVID-19 crisis has persisted, Paul and Silver have routinely been in touch. Paul recently told ESPN's Royce Young that he makes sure multiple players are involved in talking with Silver during the suspension -- that it's not just him.
But as with so many issues over the past decade-plus, Paul and Silver have been at the heart of plans to restart the league, sources said.
NBA season suspended
When Roberts told ESPN last week that the players might not even voteon a plan to return to play, that statement caught some agents by surprise and left them reviewing the union's bylaws, which do not require such a vote.
It's not that Roberts, who recently has been holding calls with every team to provide information and receive feedback, is trying to hurry the process. It's that Silver has made sure Paul and Roberts have had a seat at the table over the past three months as all this has unfolded. The union recently formed a players' committee, led by Paul and joined by Kyle Lowry, Dwight Powell, Russell Westbrook and Jayson Tatum, to further consult with Silver and some of his top officials as the process unfolds. In this way the union has, in some respects, voted along the way.
One such example is the union's preference to allow some family into a quarantined campus, which the league has made a priority for weeks as it has pieced plans together.
This is a contrast to what has happened in similar negotiations, like with Major League Baseball, in which the trading of proposals for a return-to-play model has been acrimonious. It's possible the NBA's talks could turn that way eventually -- especially as matters of compensation come to the forefront -- but Silver's inclusion of the union along the way might give him a better chance of reaching an agreement despite the unpleasant nature of the issue.
When holding a call with all players several weeks ago, Silver listened to virus-related concerns and vowed to tell teams not to pressure players to return to facilities after it was raised as a concern. But he was also frank about the league's financial position to prepare everyone for tough concessions ahead.
The league has the right to cancel the remaining 259 regular-season games, potentially wiping out more than $600 million in salaries (players are already having their paychecks docked to prepare for this). Yet despite having that hammer outlined within the current labor deal, Silver needs to get the union to agree to issues not covered by the CBA: playing games in the summer, entering a quarantine for weeks and adding some playoff play-in games for which there is no established salary structure.
A big reason Silver has been so popular is because the NBA has enjoyed massive revenue growth during his tenure in the wake of the $24 billion media rights deal he negotiated in his first months in the role in 2014.
When the NBA made that deal, rookies made a minimum of $500,000 and most veteran players made a minimum of $1.4 million. Today the rookie minimum is $900,000 and the most veteran players make at least $2.5 million. By 2014, only two star players had ever earned over $30 million in one season: Michael Jordan (twice) and Kobe Bryant (once). This season, 20 players were contracted to earn more than $30 million.
In the same time frame, average team values have increased from $630 million to $2.1 billion, per Forbes. Three teams have sold for more than $2 billion, and owners have seen borrowing power against their equity rise from $175 million to $325 million per team.
But now comes the pivot of how to manage money going out the door instead of coming in. The league might have to revamp how teams share revenue with each other and how players share money with owners. Silver might simply have to say no to some people. He might have to deal with players and their family members testing positive for the coronavirus because of an attempt to finish the season.
This is unfamiliar territory and a stress test to Silver's way of doing business. By the time next season comes, if the relationships the NBA commissioner has cultivated with all parties come away unscathed, it will be a minor miracle.
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