Lebron James wants NBA season to conclude
Earlier this week reports emerged from CNBC and the New York Post that both NBA players and executives were pushing for the currently suspended season to be officially canceled. The reports suggested that canceling the season would allow the league to begin focusing on their offseason priorities and looking ahead to next year.
However, the league’s biggest star was quick to dismiss the reports. After reading what had been said, Lebron James quickly told his 45.9m followers on Twitter that the news simply wasn’t true.
“Saw some reports about execs and agents wanting to cancel season??? That’s absolutely not true,” Lebron tweeted. “Nobody I know saying anything like that. As soon as it’s safe we would like to finish our season. I’m ready and our team is ready. Nobody should be canceling anything.”
While James did not hesitate in telling the world he wants to see the season played out, his Los Angeles Lakers currently sit in first place in the Western Conference and are legitimate contenders to win the league’s most prestigious prize. Others across the NBA do not seem as keen to carry out the remainder of the campaign.
Depending on where you on the standings, could have a lot to with your viewpoint according to Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr.
“The suspension came at an interesting time, and it really made a difference, depending on where your team stood in the standings,” Kerr told reporters last week according to ESPN. “So I’ve talked to some of my fellow coaches who are coaching teams that are right in the thick of the playoff hunt. They’re trying desperately to stay in touch with their team, some of them are even doing group workouts on Zoom with their training staff, and they’re trying to find hoops for their players to shoot at where they’re able to do so.”
The Warriors have been to the NBA finals for five consecutive seasons, winning three championships during that span but currently find themselves with the least number of wins in the entire NBA. The team was hard-hit with injuries this season and they also saw superstar Kevin Durant leave for the Brooklyn Nets during the offseason. After 65 games, they have just 15 victories.
“It’s different for us because we were down to 17 games, but we were out of the playoffs. It feels like the end of the season for our team. It just does,” said Kerr.
An official decision regarding the remainder of the season has yet to be made, but on Friday the league officially postponed both the Draft Lottery and Draft Combine that had been scheduled to take place in May.
Much like most other professional sports leagues across the globe, the NBA has been exploring a variety of different options to resume play since being forced to suspend games as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. It remains to be seen whether a solution can be found, but clearly, not everybody around the league has the same thought process when it comes to starting play back up.
