Philadelphia 76ers Could Soon be Playing Without Fans in Attendance

On Friday night, there were talks around the NBA regarding some potential plans to keep teams safe from the Coronavirus, which is beginning to spread around the USA. Suggestions have already been put in place for NBA players to keep their interactions with fans to just speaking and fist-bumping, as opposed to signing autographs and slapping hands.

Now, the NBA might take it an extra step. Friday's rumors were talks about potentially taking away locker room access from the media. The same idea was being kicked around on Sunday. Then, when Monday rolled around, the league put a plan in place to discuss ways to prevent players from coming in contact with the disease, and the fans aren't going to be too happy about what might happen next.

According to ESPN's NBA Insider, Adrian Wojnarowski, there's an official conference between team owners and governers scheduled for Wednesday. Apparently, "more drastic steps could be coming," Wojnarowski tweeted. And the idea of having "only essential personnel in the arenas" on game night is becoming more and more likely.

While the plans are obviously going to be set in place to help players and coaches prevent coming in contact with the virus, the idea of having no fans in attendance at the Wells Fargo Center could make life difficult for an already struggling 76ers team. Lately, the Sixers have been affected by injuries as they've lost three starters over the last couple of weeks.

Now, the team that has proven to play playoff-caliber basketball only at home with its own crowd could lose the real home-court advantage. This season, the Sixers are an NBA's best 28-2 when the fans in attendance are pulling for them. While away from home, however, they are a disappointing 10-24 and coming off of a four-game road streak where they have gone 1-3 over the last week.

The Sixers could really use the edge of having the home crowd on their side over this next stretch of games as the season closes out, but without fans in attendance, there is no real advantage for them. The hope is it won't have to come to this conclusion for the Sixers along with the rest of the NBA, but it seems the league is trending more towards preventing fans from attending, rather than leaving everything as it is.

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