Despite reports that NBA executives and agents are pushing to cancel the 2019-20 season, the face of the NBA, LeBron James, says that players and ownership want to continue. 

Team executives reportedly are pushing to end the current season in order to start working on a plan to return in 2020-21 and to help teams that are losing money. The 30 NBA teams split roughly $2 billion in television revenue and without games teams are hemorrhaging money. One Western Conference team has reported losses of $50 million since the league suspended play on March 11.

Some owners are reluctant to get back on the court due to liability issues. What happens if a player, coach, or team staff member contracts the virus after the season is restarted? Those types of concerns are on the minds of all 30 owners.

Still, Dallas owner Mark Cuban and Milwaukee owner Marc Lasry believe the 2019-20 season will continue. The league will begin reopening practice facilities sometime after May 8. At that point, players can begin the process of preparing themselves to finish the season.

How the season will finish and where are also issues the league is considering. NBA commissioner Adam Silver and the league will have to decide whether or not to continue the remainder of the regular season or go right into the postseason. Non-playoff teams would have an issue with not finishing the regular season as they would miss out on some desperately needed television revenue.

One location being researched is playing at Disney World Resorts in Orlando, Florida. There are 12 on-site basketball courts and two are set up for television broadcasts. Disney also has a number of on-site hotels that could be used to house players, staff, officials, and even television crews. 

The league is considering other locations as well. Las Vegas has been mentioned as a possibility, but before anything can happen the NBA will have to address coronavirus testing and how much time is needed to get players back into game-ready condition.

Rick Bouch