As an avid NBA watcher and a lifelong Celtics fan, I feel like it’s finally time for a fan to say the thing that’s been on everyone’s mind as more and more teams are falling victim to rosters full of players infected with COVID-19: the NBA needs to put a pause on all games, for at least a few weeks, starting with the games on Christmas.
There, I said it.
And this isn’t because I don’t want to watch basketball on Christmas, it’s honestly a better day for sports than football on Thanksgiving -- but that’s a whole other article. The reason we need to stop all NBA activities ASAP is to preserve the rest of the NBA season, and future seasons. At the rate players are being infected, it’s clear that the precautions the NBA is asking players and teams to take are not working. Teams are having to sign players to emergency 10-day contracts, games are being postposted left and right, and entire rosters are being changed at the last minute. Fantasy basketball teams, including mine, are in shambles. Not to mention the actual teams.
Besides the obvious fact that the NBA is going through all this to keep making money -- I mean, keep playing games, I feel this has a larger impact on NBA players and fans that some folks aren’t seeing. I’m surprised that more players aren’t speaking out in concern for overall player well-being. All these positive cases are an indicator that the NBA does not take player health as seriously as it should. This, coupled with the fact that there are all kinds of injuries happening league-wide is making it so fan-favorites like KD, Kyrie, Cade Cunningham, and KAT are not playing games, and plenty more (like those unfortunate 8 on the Celtics) aren’t playing either.
Now, obviously, my fantasy basketball team has been suffering greatly because of all these COVID delays and postponed games. However, my dear friend and fellow LFG writer and editor Andrew Maercklein did beat me in our week 7 matchup fair and square, and as per our bet I am publicly admitting here for the whole world to see that he is indeed the superior basketball manager (for that week, bitch).
Basketball is better when the players are healthy. That’s just a fact. As a basketball fan, I would prefer to watch games where the teams are as close to 100% as possible, not some mis-matched hodge podge with players in their 20th NBA season stepping on to the court, no offence to ISO Joe but come on, is that really what fans are paying to see? As awesome as these games are, I think it’s more important to protect the longevity of the players and the rest of the season so that fans get to see the high caliber basketball they know and love.
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