El NBA commissioner, Adam Silver appeared virtually to speak at the traditional press conference prior to the start of the 75 regular season, the third subject to the coronavirus pandemic, and said that his wish had been to reach it with an agreement with the players’ union for a mandate on vaccination against Covid-19.
He was also categorical in saying that point guard Kyrie Irving’s problem, of the Brooklyn Nets, who has refused to be vaccinated, and will not be able to play with the home team, he does not have it with the NBA but with a municipal mandate, which does not allow activity in public areas if he is not vaccinated.
The NBA, supporting actor
“This is between Irving and New York City at this moment, “he continued.” This is not a league problem … but I think it would have been better if all the players were vaccinated, the reality is that it is about doing a public service, especially for the young people who they don’t see the value of getting vaccinated. “
It would have been better if all the players had been vaccinated, the reality is that it is about doing a public service, especially for young people. “
Silver remembered that it is about living under a reality that conditions everything that was previously normal and therefore there are very new things.
“There is nothing fair about this virus,” Silver pointed out. “It’s indiscriminate in terms of who it impacts. And I think it is perfectly appropriate that New York and other cities have passed laws that require people who work and visit stadiums to be vaccinated. That seems to be a responsible public health decision. “.
Irving, the case that brings the NBA upside down
Around the 96% of NBA players have been vaccinated, Silver confirmed. That means around 20, or less than one per team on average, they are not. Anyone working around players this season, from referees to statistics team employees, must get vaccinated by league mandate.
“I hope that Kyrie, despite how strong he feels about the rejection of the use of the vaccine, finally decides to do it because I would love to see him play basketball this season. “, argument Silver.
I hope that Kyrie, despite how strong he feels about the rejection of the use of the vaccine, finally decides to do it “
A millionaire league
The NBA commissioner also analyzed the league revenue projection of 10 billion for 2021-22 it is based on having full stadiums throughout the season.
The league lost revenue projections by about 35% last season, because the stadiums were not full for much of the year.
There are no resolutions yet for the league’s investigations into the sign-and-trade deals that sent Lonzo Ball to Chicago and Kyle Lowry to Miami this summer. Investigations are trying to determine whether the Bulls or Heat violated league rules by making contact with players before the NBA’s negotiation window opened.
Silver insisti que the league tries to seek equality within the competition, but he also admitted that there are several teams that are above average and that was something that could not be avoided.
Adding a seasonal tournament, something Silver has sought for some time and which partly follows what exists in European football, remains a viable possibility in the future. “I think we are still in the process of formulating what will be the best proposal for all concerned.”
The future of the league and China
Expansion will be serious business again, “at some point,” Silver reiterated. Seattle is a city the league is watching, but the league will not seek to grow beyond the current 30 teams until you have “fully gone through the pandemic and know we are back in business to the whole machine”.
Silver also said it is “unclear” whether the NBA will return to closed-circuit state television in China this season. The NBA hasn’t had a game broadcast since Daryl Morey, current president of operations for the Philadelphia Sixers, tweeted in support of pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong two years ago when he was with the Houston Rockets.
The commissioner ended his meeting with journalists loaded with optimism that the NBA All-Star Game scheduled for February in Cleveland can be held in an almost normal way this season. The celebration of what will be the 75th season in NBA history will feature the announcement of the anniversary team.