It’s been 24 days (and counting) since the last NBA regular season games took place due to COVID-19 and for most fans (including me), it feels like much longer.

Since then, the debate has been whether the NBA should resume the season or just cut it’s losses and cancel it altogether. Concerns of the season actually cancelling reached an all time high when ESPN’s Brian Windshorst reported that there is “pessimism” as it relates to whether the season would actually resume.

But is that the right thing to do?

Here’s a few things to think about.

How has the NBA handled a shortened season?

One advantage that the league has in all of this is that it’s dealt with a compromised season before. Most fans remember the recent lockout before the 2011-2012 season, which forced the season to be shortened to 66 games(instead of the usual 82). And before that, there was also a lockout during the 1998-1999 season that saw teams only play 50 games. Both of those seasons went on as business as usual. You can make a case that the season’s length doesn’t matter to most fans, but there are also people in general that believe the season is too long in the first place (count me in that number). This could be the perfect opportunity for the NBA to finally address that issue. If they could somehow start the playoffs around August, that would push the start of next season to Christmas Day. Which would create a season similar to what happened in 2011. Or maybe they could go in an entirely different direction, and instead push the schedule back for good, so that it always begins in December and ends around August. This idea has been proposed before. Whatever they do decide, they have options.

Changing the structure of the season won’t be easy though. The NBA is basically a year round league, with things going on even when the season ends. When the playoffs are over, teams start preparing for the NBA draft. After the draft, it’s time to get ready for Summer League and that’s not even counting the craziness of free agency. Protecting the main cash cow (the regular season and playoffs) is most important, but no doubt, all these other events play a major role in making the league as profitable as possible. Switching the schedule around could end up doing more harm than good.

Playing without fans?

Playing the games without fans is another idea to consider. Imagine a situation where players would be quarantined in a centralized location, to limit the chances of them coming into contact with an infected person. Once there, they would play in one venue (without fans), that would end once a champion is crowned. Other leagues have proposed similar ideas. The Big3 league is planning on hosting a “quarantined reality hoops tournament” that would be paired with a reality television series. A similar situation is happening in China, where the CBA (Chinese Basketball Association) asked players to report back to China to be placed under a 14 day quaratine before league play would resume without fans (more on the China situation later). While all this sounds like a reasonable option, there are a lot of moving parts involved. To start it off, how would the game look without fans? The face of the NBA said himself that he’s not too interested in doing things that way. And honestly, who could blame him? Fans bring a much needed element to games that just aren’t easy to replace. Without them, the games would just feel like high profile scrimmages. Home court advantages would essentially be neutralized, and we know how big of a deal that is once playoff time rolls around. And of course, the league loses out on a ton of revenue in terms of ticket sales and concessions.

While it’s tough to imagine how that would look, its easy to understand why the NBA, along with other leagues would be so invested in something like that taking place. Every day, the league is losing millions of dollars by not playing. Some revenue is better than none and with there being basically a world-wide hiatus on sports, bringing some games back would no doubt attract a large audience and bring in millions of viewers.

As it stands, it will really come down to how safe these games actually are. In theory, putting healthy players in a “bubble” and allowing them to play and practice while being isolated from everybody else sounds conceivable. But this isn’t 2k. These players have family members and loved ones that they would be leaving behind for a long period of time. And there is always the chance that somehow, one of these players ends up becoming infected, in which case, we would be back to square one.

Is the CBA a good example?

Whatever happens in China, may definitely be the standard for how the NBA chooses to resume the season. The CBA stopped their season at somepoint in January, becoming one of the first leagues in the world to put their schedule on hold as a result of the coronavirus. Since then, they have made conscious efforts to try and resume league play as soon as possible. As mentioned earlier, players had already began returning as part of a 14 day quarantine that would take place before the season restarts. However, these plans have been put on hold as the Chinese government issued an order to further delay the start of that season. For the NBA, this isn’t good news. China has been in lockdown mode from January and is now saying that a May return would be too early. If we apply that same timeline to the US, that would push the date of the season resuming to somewhere between July or August. And seeing as China has experienced a setback depsite having reduced their number of cases dramatically, it’s possible that date could be pushed back even further than we think.

The biggest hold up in China? Although they have done an excellent job in slowing down the spread of the virus, there is still a fear of a possible second wave that is preventing any sporting events or large gatherings from happening any time soon. The US already has the highest reported cases of coronavirus out of any country and is still struggling to contain the spread of the pandemic. Who’s to say they will be in a position to restart a league four months from now, when it’s obvious they are already further behind than many other countries are and have been?

My take

To be honest, I’d be lying if I didn’t say that bringing the NBA back would be a welcomed distraction amidst all the things going on. There is a ton of money on the line, and every day that goes by without games being played, the league loses more dollars. The best chance to save some of that money is by putting some product on the court ASAP. For that reason, I feel like the NBA will figure out a way to eventually to restart the season.

But in my eyes, I think it should be cancelled. I just think there are too many moving parts when it comes to shifting the schedule around. Also, I’d rather have one season compromised instead of two. Whatever decision the NBA makes will affect not only this year, but the years to come. Playing a near entire season without a champion would suck, but there are times in life when you run into situations that are completely out of your control. For me, this happens to be one of those times.

But what do you guys think? You heard my reasons.Do you think the NBA should cancel their season altogether or are you cool with them resuming when everybody gets the “all clear”? Would you be less entertained if the games continued without fans? Share in the comments section and let me know.