NBA Covid-19 Update: How the League Can Stop Postponing Games

When the 2020-21 NBA season kicked off, it was clear that this season would look a lot different due to Covid-19. From the empty arenas to the spread-out benches it has been clear from the jump that the NBA was going to do their best with the spread of the Coronavirus. All NBA players, coaches, and staff members have team rules, protocols, contact tracing programs, and testing methods in place if the effort to limit the chances of the virus negatively impacting teams. However, even with all these systems and plans in place, there was still no way the NBA schedule was going to get through this season without any Covid outbreaks. There is just no real way to prevent the virus from impacting a sports league that is going to travel all over the country to play. No matter if there are fans or not, we haven’t seen any professional sports league in this country been able to pull off a season without having positive cases. Even with health produces and precautions set in place by the NBA, which actually have been the best of any major professional sport, there isn’t a way to stop positive cases from coming up in some way.

Up to date, there have been a total of 23 games postponed in this 2020-21 NBA season with no set date of when they will make them up. Players have been sidelined for situations as simple as contact tracing, out for weeks from testing positive, and teams have even had to take the floor with a minimum of 8 players. This has begged the question as of late, is NBA’s Covid Prevention system in place is actually working? Rosters are thinning, and concerns are growing more about overuse and having too long of layoffs around the league. Even with all the postponements and cancelations, the league has no plans on pausing the season. They have mentioned, “tightening” the off-court restrictions but not a plan of pause or cancelation.

List of Games that Have Been Canceled this Season

• Dec. 23: Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Houston Rockets
• Jan. 10: Miami Heat vs. Boston Celtics
• Jan. 11: New Orleans Pelicans vs. Dallas Mavericks
• Jan. 12: Boston Celtics vs. Chicago Bulls
• Jan. 13: Orlando Magic vs. Boston Celtics
• Jan. 13: Utah Jazz vs. Washington Wizards
• Jan. 13: Atlanta Hawks vs. Phoenix Suns
• Jan. 15: Washington Wizards vs. Detroit Pistons
• Jan. 15: Golden State Warriors vs. Phoenix Suns
• Jan. 15: Memphis Grizzlies vs. Minnesota Timberwolves
• Jan. 16: Indiana Pacers vs. Phoenix Suns
• Jan. 17: Cleveland Cavaliers at Washington Wizards
• Jan. 17: Philadelphia 76ers at Oklahoma City Thunder
• Jan. 18: Cleveland Cavaliers at Washington Wizards
• Jan. 20: Washington Wizards at Charlotte Hornets
• Jan. 20: Memphis Grizzlies at Portland Trail Blazers
• Jan. 21: Washington Wizards at Milwaukee Bucks
• Jan. 22: Memphis Grizzlies at Portland Trail Blazers
• Jan. 24: Sacramento Kings at Memphis Grizzlies
• Jan. 25: Sacramento Kings at Memphis Grizzlies
• Jan. 25: San Antonio Spurs at New Orleans Pelicans
• Jan. 27: Chicago Bulls at Memphis Grizzlies
• Feb.1: Detroit Pistons at  Denver Nuggets

George Hill of the Oklahoma City Thunder responds to a reporter about his feelings toward the NBA “fighting” restriction for players. — FFW 2:30  (via The Oklahoman)

The Philadelphia Seventy-Sixers are currently the best team in the Eastern Conference at 11-5 but even that hasn’t come without a combination of Covid-19 and injury complications. On January 7th, the Sixers were forced to play their game against the Denver Nuggets with only 7 active players due to injuries and Covid-19.

“Sixers have Enough Plays” … interesting. Hope this doesn’t happen in the playoffs..

Sixers Head Coach Doc Rivers Weighed in to Explain why he thinks it is not in the player’s and league’s best interest to let rosters with just 7-8 active players play:

This season is not going to be paused or postponed. That part is clear, if the NBA was going to do that they would have already. The NBA is focused on finishing this season as best they can now. It’s clear they are prioritizing safety as best they can as, but it’s only as long games can get played, even if you only have seven players. The NBA is committed to this season but they haven’t offered any type of solution for the teams that are having these unique roster problems. They have played these games with 7 or 8 active players but the 23 postponed games are still going to require active players and who is to say they won’t have similar complications when the NBA ultimately does reschedule?

The NBA should highly consider expanding rosters for this season. Give teams more rosters spots and even have a Coivd-19 reserve list of players teams could sign for times when teams are stripped down to only a few reserves. There are so many capable veteran free agents and young talented players that could help teams not only win games this season but help a team like the Sixers withstand this season so guys like Ben Simmonds and Joel Embiid are not burnt out come playoff time. Expanding rosters by at least 2-3 more spots would be the least the league could do in this pandemic year. It would provide such a great opportunity for players like Isiah Thomas and Jamal Crawford who are clearly capable vets. Imagine if a team like the Sixers or the Thunder on a night with a very depleted roster could rely on a seasoned vet like J Crossover. Expanding rosters might not be logistically as simple as I am making it out to be, however, its no doubt that it could benefit some teams and benefit some deserving players and also help organizations better get through this very strange season.