NBA Struggles to Run Season During Pandemic

 Alex Streinger

When the COVID-19 pandemic began to impact the United States, it took sports with it. On March 11, 2020, the Utah Jazz and the Oklahoma City Thunder were scheduled to play a regular season game in Chesapeake Energy Arena, the Thunder’s home court. But just before the 8PM EST tip-off, the referees, the two coaches, and a doctor met at half-court after Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for coronavirus and the game was postponed. Following the announcement, the NBA season was suspended. Three months later, the NBA approved a plan to resume the 2019-2020 season in Disney World, inviting the 22 teams that were at least six games within a playoff spot. In late July, the teams played three exhibition games and official regular season games began right after. The playoffs began on August 17th, and the NBA Finals, which resulted in the Los Angeles Lakers defeating the Miami Heat by four to two games, began September 30 and ended October 11. The $190 million investment by the NBA ended up paying off in a major way as the so-called “NBA bubble” brought in $1.5 billion in revenue. With players not allowed to leave the facility and mandatory tests every day, there were no recorded cases of COVID-19 in the bubble from either players or staff members.

On December 22, 2020, the 2020-2021 NBA season began; this time with no bubble, which, as shown one month into the season, has made life much harder for commissioner Adam Silver and other NBA officials. The first problem came when then Houston Rockets player James Harden, who was recently traded to the Brooklyn Nets, violated the NBA’s Health and Safety Protocol' days before the regular season began. A video of him maskless in a Houston club during a Christmas party circulated online. In addition to being the catalyst that caused the opening night game between the Rockets and Thunder to be suspended, the former league MVP and eight time NBA All Star was fined $50,000. Although this has been a rough start to the NBA in terms of issues with COVID-19, analysts, players, and officials are still confident about the season.