Report: No Indication Recent Conversations Will Stop NBA's Return

Despite a number of players pushing back against the NBA's July return, citing a desire not to distract from the current Black Lives Matter movement, there's no indication that it's enough to change the league's return plans, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne.

According to ESPN, while some players are expected to choose not to play when the NBA returns in late July at an Orlando bubble site, ESPN said there is no indication that a significant group of players will sit out.

National Basketball Players Association executive director Michele Roberts additionally told ESPN she spent the weekend discussing how players could best use "our obvious influence" to "enhance and move this movement forward."

"It's not a question of play or not play," Roberts told ESPN. "It's a question of, does playing again harm a movement that we absolutely, unequivocally embrace? And then whether our play can, in fact, highlight, encourage and enhance this movement.

"That's what they're talking about. They're not fighting about it; they're talking about it."

Roberts' conversations come days removed from a Friday call led by Nets star Kyrie Irving that included more than 80 NBA players and discussed the league's return to play and expressed a desire not to distract from the Black Lives Matter movement. 

A number of players, including Lakers center Dwight Howard, were on the call, with Howard, through his agent, telling CNN's Jill Martin in a statement, "Basketball, or entertainment period, isn't needed at this moment, and will only be a distraction...

"...I would love nothing more than to win my very first NBA Championship. But the unity of My People would be an even bigger Championship, that's just to (sic) beautiful to pass up. What better time than now for us to be focusing on our families."

On June 5, the NBPA approved further negotiations with the NBA on a 22-team return to play restart for the 2019-20 NBA season in Orlando, doing so one day after the league's Board of Governors approved the plan. But while the league's health protocol continues to be ironed out, a number of players also appear to be pushing back on the idea of returning amid the current racial climate.

Clippers guard Lou Williams said publicly on Saturday that resuming the season would be “a distraction” that could potentially keep societal change from continuing to happen.

However, Rockets guard Austin Rivers put out a lengthy statement on Instagram stating that he believes players could use the money and platform they'd get from playing out the season to further the BLM movement.

The league is reportedly not requiring its players to participate in the season restart if they are uncomfortable doing so. Players who voluntarily sit out would lose a portion of their salaries, but would otherwise face no consequences.

The NBA reportedly informed teams it would begin testing players and staff that will take part in the league's presumed resumption in Orlando on June 23. The season is expected to resume July 30.