New Optimism About Re-Start Of 2019-20 NBA Season?

DALLAS - "Encouraged and optimistic.''

Those are the words being used to characterize the mood of what Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN terms "an overwhelming majority of high-level officials'' who continue to harbor the belief that NBA basketball will return - in some form - to complete the 2019-20 season.

But Woj adds in his report, "the pathway remains cluttered."

There are actually two cluttered pathways here. One is the most ominous: What are the true safety risks in resuming play in a COVID-19 time? Can testing for the virus be done in a way that heightens that level of safety? Can it be done for players, coaches, officials and fans?

And then there is the second "cluttered pathway,'' and we have been told that while the first issue is a medical one, this issue is one that NBA officials do believe they are qualified to weigh, one they do believe the are qualified to brainstorm on toward a solution:

The logistics.

Per Woj, NBA commissioner Adam Silver has "repeatedly told teams" the NBA is determined to crown a champion. There is precedent in sports for a season failing to be completed, but one can understand why the NBA would explore every way to avoid that fate.

So ... contingent on rulings from government officials on the legality of it all: Would the games go on at existing home venues? Would the NBA move to a single location (Las Vegas? Disneyworld?) to stage games? Would we pick up where we left off? Create a shortened regular season? Jump straight into the playoffs? Create a condensed postseason?

"Urgency is growing" as it regards a resumption of play, Woj notes, but Silver has also expressed caution, as has NBA leading voice Mark Cuban of the Dallas Mavericks.

Woj writes, "There are no shortages of ideas in the NBA community; solutions are a different matter.'' No argument there. But the "idea-and-solutions'' pathway is far less "cluttered'' than the pathway that is the responsibility of the medical experts who are now in many ways truly the people "in charge of'' the NBA.