Ladies and Gentlemen, the NBA is back!
The 22 NBA teams in the running to compete for the Larry O’Brien Trophy started playing their first of 3 to 4 Exhibition games this week. The 2019-20 NBA Season officially resumes on July 30. The Sports World essentially shut down for 4 months on March 12–one day after Utah Jazz Center Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19. His teammate Donovan Mitchell would test positive the following day and the rest is history.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silva led the NBA and U.S. Sports in being the first major sports league to completely shut down. The NHL followed a few days later. MLB delayed the start of 2020 season (would have started in April) for three months as well. Even the 2020 Tokyo Olympics was impacted. It will now be held in 2021.
Plans for resuming the 2019-20 NBA Season were discussed from the day the decision was made to suspend, not cancel the Season. Given there were only a few more weeks of the NBA Season left before the playoffs, it’s understandable the NBA would want to finish the season even if it means the start of the 2020-21 NBA Season is pushed back (it will be) and likely shortened since some players will be participating in the Olymics. Factoring that, I think the 2020-21 NBA Season should start in December and be a 60-game season. You wrap up in time to give those who will play in the Olympics time to prepare next summer.
For those who were not following the NBA before the season was suspended, the following 8 teams are not in Orlando:
- Charlotte Hornets
- Chicago Bulls
- New York Knicks
- Detroit Pistons
- Atlanta Hawks
- Cleveland Caveliers
- Minnesota Timberwolves
- Golden State Warriors
All of these teams were eliminated from playoff contention before the season was suspended so none of them are in Orlando. The Warriors, which lost Klay Thompson during last year’s NBA Finals to Injury, Kevin Durant to Free Agency and Steph Curry to Injury early in the season are expected to be back in the running next season.
The following three teams are competing for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference:
- Brooklyn Nets (30-34, Currently #7)
- Orlando Magic (30-35, Currently #8)
- Washington Wizards (24-40, Currently #9)
The top 6 teams are already decided and are playing for position. The Bucks lead the NBA and the Eastern Conference (53-12) while Celtics are third in the East (43-21). The Wizards would basically need to win at least 6 games to get to 30 games and hope both the Nets and Magic fail to secure the final two spots. There are enough regular season games remaining for the Wizards to have a chance and that’s why they were included.
The following seven teams are competing for a playoff spot in the Western Conference:
- Dallas Maverics (40-27, Currently #7)
- Memphis Grizzlies (32-33, currently #8)
- Portland Trail Blazers (29-37, Currently #9)
- New Orleans Pelicans
- Sacremento Kings
- San Antonio Spurs
- Phoenix Suns
Like the East, the first six teams are already decided and are just deciding playoff position at this point. The Lakers lead the West (49-14) while the Clippers are right behind them (44-20), setting the stage for a Battle Los Angeles scenario in the Western Conference Finals. The Mavericks will likely clinch the #7 spot but it’s a 6-way contest for the #8 spot. I do think the Blazers will replace the Grizzlies in the #8 spot personally but we’ll see.
The NBA does have a Second Chance Scenario for the #8 Seed in both conferences though as of right now, it’s relevant to just the Western Conference: If less than four games separate the #8 seed from the other teams #9 and below when the Season ends, those teams would face each other in a single-game Play-In Tournament for the final #8 spot. After that, then the playoffs would begin in traditional format.
All things considered, even though there will be no live fans it’s good we will get to see an NBA Champion for the 2019-20 Season be decided. The NBA has protocols in place should players test positive for COVID-19 during this time and is committed to finishing the season and doing the playoffs. It would take a significant number of players testing positive in a short amount of time for the NBA to pull the plug and so far, so good.
The MLB Season is set to officially begin in a matter of days. While the Toronto Raptors will play in Orlando, the Toronto Blue Jays are a team without a Home Field as of right now. As for why, the Canadian Government closed its boarders to the United States several months back as a reminder. The other MLB Teams can’t travel to Toronto for Home Games as a result so the Blue Jays are frantically looking for a Major League Ballpark in the United States to play their Home games.
The problem is so far, it’s been easier said than done. The state of Pennsylvania just declined their request to use Pittsburgh as their Home field a few days ago. The Blue Jays do have a Minor League team in Buffalo, New York but the players have unanimously expressed they would prefer to play Home games in a Major League Ballpark.
With news of a COVID-19 outbreak within the Florida Marlins in which 11 players have tested positive–and it certainly doesn’t help the State of Florida leads the U.S. in cases and the spread of infection–the Blue Jays’ search for an interim Home Field just got harder.
Unlike the NBA and NHL, the MLB is using existing ballparks in states cleared to hold games but without fans in attendence. THe NHL is holding all games in Canada in two locations, which the NBA considered (Las Vegas being the other location strongly considered) before ultimately deciding to hold all games in Orlando.
This past week, the team announced they are officially retiring the Redskins nickname. For the upcoming 2020 NFL season, it will officially be known as “The Washington Football Team” until a new permanent name is decided.
…No, really.
A few weeks after renewed public and corporate pressure to retire the “Redskins” team name, the team owner announced the team will continue to use the Gold and Burgundy colors in the upcoming season. Instead of a logo, each player’s number will be on their helmets. There have been decades of critcism towards the team name “Redskins” because it is a racist and derrogatory epiphet toward Native Americans (especially when paired with the logo).
On that note. Picking “The Washington Football Team” as the temporary name is a backshot towards those who always opposed the former nickname and referred to it as The Washington Football Team ironically. The owner was adamant about never changing the team’s former name but when corporate sponsors demanded the team name change last month, that changed everything.
As an aside–and unsurprisingly–MLB’s Cleveland Indians were quick to announce they “have no plans at this time” of considering changing the team’s name. That’s a load of hot garbage given they quietly retired team’s former logo a few years ago and have instead used a “C” as the team’s official logo. They made this decision after a documentary on the team name’s origins was revealed via an ESPN Documentary. The story goes, the team owner at the time was drunk and someone jokingly pitched “Indians” as an idea. He liked it (while drink, mind you) and despite staff trying to get him to back out, he insisted on using it. The rest is history.
If corporate pressure is what it took to force The Washington Football Team to retire its former nickname, clearly that’s what it will take for The Cleveland Baseball Team to change theirs. For those who don’t get it, I’ll put it like this. No chance in hell will a team get away with having “Irish”, “Italians”, “Germans”, “Swedes”, Norwegians” or “Russians” as their team name. Yet, for some reason “Redskins” was allowed to a team’s name until 2020. The Cleveland Baseball team’s nickname will be in place for at least one more season.
If you think this shirt is offensive but you’re ok with “Redskins” and “Indians” as Professional Sports Team names, something is seriously wrong with you. Oh and by the way this shirt is MEGA popular. I think the team name will officially change sooner than later personally.
If you have enjoyed this post or other posts I have made on this blog, please consider making a monetary donation via PayPal. Whatever amount you can provide would be greatly appreciated.
Aurabolt's Sports Talk 