NBA Legend Shaquille O'Neal Believes the Season Should Be Scrapped

For the last two months, we've been wondering if it's possible for the NBA to continue its 2019-2020 season amid the COVID-19 pandemic. At this point, it's still too early to tell. While NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has made it clear that trying to save the season is a priority, doing so right now just isn't possible.

Soon, the question will no longer be, "can the NBA make a return?" Instead, it will be "should the NBA make a return?" Because at a certain point, rushing basketball back into action for the sake of saying the season completed with a champion might not even satisfy the masses at an end. So that's precisely why NBA analyst and Hall of Famer, Shaquille O'Neal, believes the season should be a wash.

"I think we should scrap the season," O'Neal told USA Today's For The Win recently. "Everybody go home, get healthy, come back next year. To try and come back now and do a rush playoffs as a player? Any team that wins this year, there's an asterisk. They're not going to get the respect. What if a team that's not really in the mix of things all of a sudden wins with a new playoff format? Nobody is going to respect that. So, scrap it. Worry about the safety of the fans and the people. Come back next year."

Shaq makes a valid argument against bringing the season back. Whichever team wins the 2019-2020 NBA Finals will have a tainted championship win in the eyes of many. While the legendary center understands players just want to get out there and play, Shaq believes, in the end, it won't even be worth it.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter: @JGrasso_