The 2019-20 NBA season began an indefinite hiatus on March 11 after Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for the coronavirus. When will the league be back, and what will the rest of the season look like?
Commissioner Adam Silver initially said that the suspension would last at least 30 days, but a mid-to-late-June return is now looking like a best-case scenario.
Get the latest updates from ESPN’s insiders and analysts on the NBA’s response to the coronavirus outbreak here.
MORE: Coronavirus cancellations and reactions in sports
Latest intel
March 15: NBA owners and executives are bracing for the possibility of mid-to-late June as a best-case scenario for the league’s return, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Fears exist of a season completely lost, especially based on what some experts see as the slow response of the United States to flatten the curve of the coronavirus and make testing available on a widespread basis. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a recommendation on Sunday night that no events or gatherings should include more than 50 people for the next eight weeks.
The league office has given teams no guidance yet on a timeline for a resumption of play, but organizations themselves are preparing for the possibility of a long hiatus based upon the facts surrounding the coronavirus outbreak.
NBA owners are awaiting the league’s financial projections on lost revenues, which are expected to be shared with them soon, sources said. The NBA likely will provide projections on three primary scenarios: the financial costs of shutting down the season, restarting with no fans in the arena, or playing playoff games with fans.
For now, there’s a working plan that games would return without fans, and teams have been told to search out arena dates well into August for the playoffs, sources said. Teams have been directed to give the league office potential dates at smaller nearby game venues, including team practice facilities, that could spare the use of empty, cavernous arenas and possibly provide backdrops to unique television viewing lines.