There have been a large handful of ramifications due to the suspension of the 2019-20 NBA season.

Background Information:

On Wednesday, March 11, 2020, the National Basketball Association “suspended”, or postponed, the remainder of its season until further notice. This suspension of the season came as the result of a player on the Utah Jazz, (Rudy Gobert), testing positive for the COVID-19 virus. At first, when the news of the suspension broke to the public, millions of people around the basketball-world were absolutely stunned. Fans, players, coaches, managers, team owners… everyone was in shock.

For the next several days following the season’s suspension, many NBA teams had their players, coaches, and training personnel tested for the novel coronavirus. It was speculated that, due to Gobert’s positive COVID-19 test, many players that he had come into contact with during games may had also been infected. As was expected, after tests were administered, it did turn out that at least eight to ten other players tested positive for the virus, not to mention a few other team personnel members.

The majority of players and owners in the NBA do not want the 2019-2020 season to finish without having the playoffs and Finals. 

Essentially, most people want a champion to be crowned for the ‘19-‘20 season, no matter when that championship series is going to occur. The general consensus around the league is that most players, coaches, and team owners want the season to continue, whenever that may be possible.

The day following the original announcement of the league’s hiatus, Commissioner Adam Silver made it clear that the NBA intended to re-evaluate the situation in approximately 30 days. Optimistically, the hope was that the virus would potentially be dying down by mid-April, and that league gameplay could resume around that time. However, the virus is only at its beginning stages of wreaking havoc on the United States right now nearing the tail end of March, nowhere yet near its peak number of infections and deaths.

However, now more than halfway through this 30-day time period, most people realize that it is nearly impossible that the NBA will be returning by mid-April. It is just not going to happen, period.

The league, of course, must follow federal health and CDC guidelines to ensure the health and safety of fans, players, and anyone present in NBA arenas. And, as of now in late-March, the CDC is advising there be no gatherings over 50 people for at least the next 6 to 8 weeks.

On March 15, 2020, ESPN’s Senior “NBA Insider” Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the league is now “bracing for” a potential mid-to-late June return date. To say the least, this is a very optimistic goal.

Typically, in an regular, uninterrupted NBA season without an unexpected and sudden hiatus, mid-June is when the season is scheduled to end. Therefore, due to this global pandemic causing the league to go on pause, the ‘19-‘20 season will most likely not conclude until at least August… that is, if, it even resumes by late May or June of 2020.

Economic impacts:

There are tremendous economic impacts of the 2019-20 NBA season being temporarily suspended. First off, the NBA is obviously losing out on hundreds of millions of dollars in television viewership, advertisement revenue, in-arena purchases such as team jerseys and merchandise, and most importantly… game ticket sales! Essentially, with no games being played for this period of time, the league is bringing in a very slim amount of money. Hundreds of millions of dollars are at stake here due to the unexpected hiatus of the season.

Social impacts:

The social aspects of this hiatus is also a significant impact to consider. One side of it relates to basketball lovers and fans, and the other side has to do with the actual players on the teams. For millions of fans all across the country and the world, their go-to or favorite sport has been stripped away from them for this period of time.

For many, NBA basketball is the best form of entertainment and a part of life that people most enjoy. As simple as it may seem, a sport such as basketball can bring people of all races, religions, and nationalities together despite other social differences. A common and shared love of the sport and being an NBA fan can unite many and form bonds.

As for the players, most teams were required to go on a 14-day quarantine and leave their teams’ facilities. Most players were instructed by the league to self-isolate in their homes, away from outside social contact for at least two weeks. This quarantining has significant social effects and emotional impacts on the well-being of players’ mental health.

Political impacts:

As improbable as it may seem, there are some political effects of the NBA’s suspension for many people within the league. These people, specifically most affected by the political matters, are the “high-ups”.. the big bosses within the organizations such as team owners, managers, and front office members.

Each of the league’s 30 current franchises has many members of their respective teams to pay. Of course, the most obvious recipients of high salaries are the players; millions upon millions of dollars. however, sometimes it is overlooked how many other people play a role within NBA organizations. There are trainers, team medical staff, coaches, team video coordinators, and even mental health personnel. 

Now, here is where the politics come into play— All of these people need to get paid, as do the players. Obviously, payments and salaries would typically pertain to the economic aspect of a business. However, here in the scenario of an unexpected hiatus during a season within a major sports association, politics and economics go hand and hand. 

There are numerous political decisions that will have to be made by the league in the upcoming several weeks, most notably by the league commissioner. Adam Silver is that man, in charge of most of the political aspects within the NBA. That being said, he, along with other head league officials, will have an enormous decision to make regarding the league’s potential return date. 

When will basketball games be able to resume? Will NBA basketball even be able to return this season? And, arguably the most pressing question, will the league omit the remaining 35 calendar days that remained when the season was suspended, and head right into playoff action?? These are all the types of major politically-related decisions that Commissioner Silver and his team will have to make.

When sports and money come together, there is always sure to be politics involved as well.