NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said last Friday that the league was not in a position to resume the 2019-20 season, leaving fans guessing as to when they can expect games to return. 

Ed Desser, president of Desser Media and a former league executive, said holding games without fans is still "the most likely thing to happen" but noted that the people shouldn't underestimate how much coordination that would require.  

"Even playing without fans is not a trivial undertaking," he told Cheddar. "You still need to get maybe 1,000 people in a particular location. You need to deal with meals. You need to deal with practice."

The game of basketball in particular presents difficulties when compared to other sports. Golf or Nascar racing or even baseball involve much less direct contact than basketball, Desser added.

While the league would like to see a champion named by this summer, it's uncertain if that will be possible.  

"I'd be surprised if it could be done by late June or July, frankly," Desser said. "That's certainly what they'd like to do, but of course they don't want to be in a position of endangering the player or other participant, endangering the fans certainly. So it's a difficult tussle."

The announcement of a further delay was another big disappointment for the league this season, which saw the deaths of former NBA great Kobe Bryant and former commissioner David Stern and a potentially costly feud with China sparked by a tweet from Daryl Morey, general manager of the Houston Rockets, in support of Hong Kong protesters.

"Commissioners are not just there to hand out the trophy at the end of the year," Desser said. "It's a core competency, really, to do crisis management. That's what Adam is doing today."

He noted that the commissioner's job requires a careful balance of multiple different stakeholders. 

"The unique thing about a commissioner in sports is you're running a business, but you're also responsible to the players, responsible to the owners, responsible to the press and other forms of media, responsible to the arena owners, responsible to the fans, and responsible, or at least have to deal with, the government," he said. 

"It's not an ordinary kind of CEO job. You have to be pretty good at dealing with controversies."

Share:
More In Business
Michigan Judge Sentences Walmart Shoplifters to Wash Parking Lot Cars
A Michigan judge is putting sponges in the hands of shoplifters and ordering them to wash cars in a Walmart parking lot when spring weather arrives. Genesee County Judge Jeffrey Clothier hopes the unusual form of community service discourages people from stealing from Walmart. The judge also wants to reward shoppers with free car washes. Clothier says he began ordering “Walmart wash” sentences this week for shoplifting at the store in Grand Blanc Township. He believes 75 to 100 people eventually will be ordered to wash cars this spring. Clothier says he will be washing cars alongside them when the time comes.
State Department Halts Plan to buy $400M of Armored Tesla Vehicles
The State Department had been in talks with Elon Musk’s Tesla company to buy armored electric vehicles, but the plans have been put on hold by the Trump administration after reports emerged about a potential $400 million purchase. A State Department spokesperson said the electric car company owned by Musk was the only one that expressed interest back in May 2024. The deal with Tesla was only in its planning phases but it was forecast to be the largest contract of the year. It shows how some of his wealth has come and was still expected to come from taxpayers.
Load More