DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum NBA 19-20 Season

The Lakers/Clippers game today was special. Two excellent teams. Intensity was high. Guys taking charges. Some confrontations. Great stuff for the NBA.

It's amazing to me how much talent is on both of those teams. They are 9, 10, and maybe even 11 deep. It's crazy.

And LeBron..........oh my! Dude is 35 and blowing by guys. I know a lot of folks don't like him, but he does things the right way. His mom was [I won't say] and yet, LeBron never gets into trouble, speaks for social justice in a positive manner, helps kids, and is making a big-time brand by doing things the right way. And he is still dominating the league at 35 freaking years old.

Opinions vary, but I think he will eventually considered as one of the greatest athletes to ever walk the face of the earth, especially when you consider the entire picture.

One more thing.............why can Morris from the Clippers flex over top of AD after knocking him down and not get a technical and Bradley get a tech for what he did? Nonsense!

LeBron was a man possessed today. Very entertaining to watch. He is still head and shoulders above all others

Warriors to play Nets without fans in arena following San Francisco order
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/2888...francisco-order

The Golden State Warriors will play Thursday's game against the Brooklyn Nets with no fans inside the Chase Center, the team announced Wednesday.


"Due to escalating concerns about the spread of the coronavirus, and in consultation with the City and County of San Francisco, tomorrow night's game vs. the Nets at Chase Center will be played without fans," the team tweeted. "Fans with tickets to this game will receive a refund in the amount paid."

The Warriors are still meeting about the matter, and further direction could come from a league owners call Wednesday afternoon, sources told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. After Thursday's game, the Warriors are away from the Chase Center until March 25.

Golden State players are set to meet with members of team management to be updated on the latest information, sources told Wojnarowski.

The team's decision followed an order from the San Francisco Health Office prohibiting events where 1,000 or more people assemble. The Warriors tweeted that other events at the Chase Center through March 21 -- consisting of three concerts and a G League game -- would be canceled or postponed.

Sources told Wojnarowski on Tuesday that the NBA board of governors has a scheduled conference call with the commissioner's office Wednesday. The call is expected to include one designated ownership representative of each team, sources said. There are two additional calls set for Thursday for team presidents and general managers, sources said.

The NBA is discussing a number of possibilities, including moving some games to NBA cities that have yet to suffer outbreaks, eliminating fans from buildings for games or, more drastically, suspending game operations for a period of time.

Also on Wednesday, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told a congressional committee that he would recommend the NBA not allow fans at games in response to the coronavirus.

The San Francisco Giants announced that a March 24 exhibition game against the Oakland Athletics at Oracle Park will not be played. The Giants said they are working with the Athletics to "finalize alternative arrangements."

The number of coronavirus cases in the United States has topped 1,000, with the number of deaths at 31.

j/c

NBA suspends season after Jazz center Rudy Gobert tests positive for coronavirus

The NBA has suspended its season after a player preliminarily tested positive for coronavirus, stunning fans and players who heard the plan at stadiums Wednesday night, and adding to a list of daily events and activities altered by the virus' spread nationwide.

Utah Jazz all-star center Rudy Gobert tested positive, according to ESPN and other media outlets, shortly before his team's game Wednesday night against the host Oklahoma City Thunder.

The NBA postponed that game right before tip-off after it learned the diagnosis, surprising thousands of fans already in their seats at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Not long afterward, the league announced it would suspend the season "until further notice" after the night's slate of games around the country.

"The NBA will use this hiatus to determine next steps for moving forward in regard to the coronavirus pandemic," the NBA, which announced a Jazz player had tested positive but didn't identify him, said in a statement.

The affected player was not in the arena, the league said. The player is in the care of health officials in Oklahoma City, according to the Jazz, which also did not name the player.

Four other NBA games were played Wednesday night -- but one other, a tilt between the New Orleans Pelicans and the Sacramento Kings in California, was called off because a referee assigned to work the game had previously worked a Jazz game, the NBA said.

The NBA's suspension is an outlier for professional sports in the United States, a country more used to seeing leagues stop or shrink seasons because of labor issues or, more rarely, war.

The coronavirus pandemic has forced many US sports organizations to consider adjustments, including canceling events and holding games without fans. The National Hockey League said Wednesday night it is still evaluating the options and will have an update on Thursday.

Surreal scenes in Oklahoma City

In Oklahoma City, players for both teams were on the court for warm-ups but were abruptly called back to the locker rooms.

Juan Guerra II, who says he is an avid Thunder fan, told CNN this came after the National Anthem was sung and the starting lineups were announced.
"And then boom, a guy in a suit started a joint conversation with all the referees, then both head coaches -- next thing you knew the Jazz went into the locker room and then the Thunder," he said.

The public address announcer first told the crowd the game was delayed and awaiting league approval to go forward, offering no other details.
Eventually, the announcer told fans the game was called off, that they were safe, and to please leave the arena. Fans shouted in surprise.

In Dallas, the Denver Nuggets' contest against the Dallas Mavericks continued, and finished with a Mavericks win. But as news of the NBA's decision to suspend the season after Wednesday night spread during that game, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban was seen in the stadium reacting with shock as he and others learned of the decisions on their phones.

"This is people's lives at stake, this isn't about basketball, this isn't about the Mavericks," Cuban said after the game. "This is a global pandemic, where people's lives are at stake."
Jazz's statement

In a statement, the Utah Jazz said a player on the team tested negative for influenza, strep throat and an upper respiratory infection Wednesday morning.

"The individual's symptoms diminished over the course of today, however, in a precautionary measure, and in consultation and cooperation with NBA medical staff and Oklahoma health officials, the decision was made to test for COVID-19," the team said.

"We wish this player a full and speedy recovery, and appreciate the work of health officials in Oklahoma to test a member of the Utah Jazz for COVID-19, as well as their prudent decision to test the entire team at this time," Utah Gov. Gary Herbert and Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox said in a joint statement.

They added that they are working to identify people who have had close enough contact with the player as to have been potentially exposed.
Evan Fournier, a guard with the Orlando Magic and a friend of Gobert, tweeted that he has been in touch with Gobert.

"Was just on the phone with Rudy. He is doing good man. Lets not panick everyone. Love you all," Fournier tweeted.

Reaction around the league

That close contact makes coronavirus a concern for the rest of the league, Detroit Pistons head coach Dwane Casey said following the announcement.
Casey and other figures in the league said the suspension was the right move until officials have a better grasp on the situation.

"We are not going to speculate on what we are going to do. We are going to regroup. We just heard about this five minutes ago. It's the utmost importance that our fans, our players, and our staff we feel safe and are safe," Philadelphia 76ers general manager Elton Brand said.

Atlanta Hawks head coach Lloyd Pierce said that the virus affecting the league happened despite preventative efforts, and the decision to suspend is the right move.

The NBA, like other sports leagues, had been considering playing games without fans. Before the suspension, the Golden State Warriors announced that its Thursday night game in San Francisco against the Brooklyn Nets would be played without fans.

The NCAA also announced Wednesday that its annual basketball tournament would go forward but with only "essential personnel" and "limited family" in attendance.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/11/us/nba-season-suspended-spt-trnd/index.html

It’ll be interesting to see what other players, if any, also test positive now

j/c...

If he has little to no symptoms, why was he tested?

You know why.

Here's a really good read. The NBA and their relationship with China put them well ahead of the curve and allowed them to order test kits. Obviously, money matters. The NBA took advantage of the information they had. Smart thing to do.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/28925716/how-nba-moved-quickly-coronavirus-testing

Lol exactly

Wow, it's been awhile since the NBA thread has been alive. Just thad to post this Game of Zones link though because the episodes this "season" have been hysterical. The production value for this little parody series is amazing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBXeC94Uz-0

Sources: NBA to approve plan for 22-team return with eight regular-season games

Adrian Wojnarowski
Senior NBA Insider

The NBA's board of governors has a 12:30 p.m. ET call on Thursday with the intention of approving the league's plan for a 22-team return in Orlando, Florida, sources told ESPN on Wednesday.

Each of the 22 teams will play eight regular-season games in Orlando for seeding purposes for the playoffs, sources told ESPN.

Joining the 16 current playoff teams will be the New Orleans Pelicans, Portland Trail Blazers, Phoenix Suns, Sacramento Kings and San Antonio Spurs in the West and the Washington Wizards in the East, sources told ESPN.

If the No. 9 seed is more than four games behind, the No. 8 seed will make the conference playoffs. If the No. 9 seed is less than four games back, there will be a play-in tournament, sources told ESPN.

The return would begin July 31 under the proposal, and a last possible date for Game 7 of the NBA Finals would be Oct. 12, sources told ESPN on Tuesday.

The expectation is that the NBA draft and the opening of free agency would follow in sequential order in October, sources said.

The NBA board of governors requires a three-fourths passage of the 30 teams on a plan, but there is an expectation among owners that they will fall into line and overwhelmingly approve the commissioner's recommendation, sources said.

The NBA suspended its season on March 11 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/2926...ar-season-games

The NBA has told the National Basketball Players Association that it will present a 22-team plan for restarting the season to the league’s board of governors on Thursday, a person with knowledge of the situation said.

The teams that will be going to the ESPN Wide World Of Sports complex on the Disney campus near Orlando, Florida would play eight games to determine playoff seeding starting around July 31 before the postseason begins, according to the person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity on Wednesday because the league has not released its proposal publicly.


The plan, if approved, would have 13 Western Conference teams and nine Eastern Conference teams going to Disney and the cutoff being that teams must be within six games of a playoff spot at this point. Playoffs would start in August, and the NBA Finals will likely stretch into October, the person said.

The Milwaukee Bucks, Los Angeles Lakers, Toronto Raptors and Boston Celtics already have clinched playoff spots — and, if only eight games are left, that would mean the Miami Heat, Indiana Pacers, Philadelphia 76ers, Los Angeles Clippers, Denver Nuggets, Utah Jazz, Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets would theoretically have clinched spots as well.

The Dallas Mavericks would be virtually assured of clinching a West spot, holding a seven-game lead over eighth-place Memphis. So that would mean the Grizzlies, Portland, New Orleans, Sacramento, San Antonio and Phoenix all would be in the running for the No. 8 seed out West. In the East, Washington is six games behind No. 7 Brooklyn and 5-1/2 games behind No. 8 Orlando — so within range of triggering a play-in series.

For a play-in series to happen to determine the No. 8 seed on either playoff bracket, the ninth-place team would have to be within four games of eighth place. If a play-in series occurs, it would basically be a best-of-two — where the No. 9 seed would have to win two head-to-head matchups to take over the No. 8 spot.

There would also be some jostling for playoff positioning happening in the eight-game restart. In the East, Toronto and Boston are separated by three games for the No. 2 spot and Miami, Indiana and Philadelphia are separated by two games for the No. 4 spot. Out West, the Clippers, Denver, Utah, Oklahoma City and Houston are all within four games of one another in the race for the No. 2 seed on that bracket.


There are still some elements of the restart plan that could be changed, and other matters are still being negotiated — such as how much of a percentage of their salaries that players will lose because some regular season games will be canceled. If 15% of the regular season is not played, which would be the current estimate based on the proposal, players would have to give up roughly $610 million in salary for this season.

It’s also unclear what will happen to the eight teams that would not be vying for a postseason berth under the proposed format — Charlotte, Chicago, Atlanta, Detroit, New York, Cleveland, Minnesota and Golden State. If the 2020-21 NBA season doesn’t start until December at the earliest, which would seem to be a very real possibility, those teams could go about nine months without playing games and some have expressed concerns over what that will mean for player development.

The NBA suspended its season March 11, becoming the first of the U.S. major pro leagues to do so after it became known that Utah’s All-Star center Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19. The list of NBA players who were known to test positive eventually grew to 10 — not all were identified — and Commissioner Adam Silver said that the actual total was even higher.

The ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex is a 255-acre campus with multiple arenas that could host games simultaneously and has been home to, among other things, the Jr. NBA World Championship in recent years. ESPN is primarily owned by Disney, one of the NBA’s broadcast partners.

https://apnews.com/010f14bd974eb7865c384...aign=SocialFlow

So 22 teams will head to Orlando ... everyone plays 8 games .. then they have play-in games for the 8 seeds ... and we start the playoffs

It’ll be weird to have NBA in September and October

Not as weird as not having basketball in March, April, May, and June.

The NBA normally starts in October.

Yeah, I meant the playoffs ... sorry not to specify

I haven't paid attention to the NBA since the early 90's Cavs (Daugherty, Price, Nance, Hot Rod, Ehlo, etc), but I am pretty much Netflix-ed out. So if there's no MLB, I'll watch NBA playoff hoops. Maybe I'll learn to like it again ...

So NBA gets Orlando after MLS is done with it.

Sloppy seconds.

Get the season going. I've got bets to place!

Cleveland Cavaliers tied for top NBA Draft Lottery odds as season ends
As their 2019-20 season comes to an end, the Cleveland Cavaliers are one of three teams with the best odds of landing the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.
https://www.wkyc.com/article/sports/nba/...55-0e1c4bea1423

The Cleveland Cavaliers may have preferred to be a part of the NBA's plan to resume the 2019-20 season.

But while they'll be one of eight teams watching from home as the league picks up with a 22-team format in Orlando next month, the end of the Cavs' season comes with at least one consolation prize.

At 19-46, Cleveland finishes its 2019-20 season with the second-worst record in the NBA. Under the league's current format, that means the Cavs will be one of three teams with the best odds available -- 14 percent -- of landing the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft Lottery, which will now be held on August 25.

Joining Cleveland with the top odds of landing the No. 1 pick in this year's lottery will be the Golden State Warriors and Minnesota Timberwolves. Additionally, the Cavs will have a 13.4 percent chance of landing the No. 2 pick, a 12.7 percent chance of landing the No. 3 pick, a 12 percent chance of landing the No. 4 pick and a 27.8 percent chance of landing the No. 5 pick. At worst, Cleveland will enter the NBA Draft with the No. 6 pick, which it has a 20 percent chance of winding up with.

For what it's worth, the Cavs entered last year's draft lottery in the same position before ultimately landing the No. 5 pick after being jumped by the New Orleans Pelicans, Memphis Grizzlies and Atlanta Hawks in the drawing (the New York Knicks, who had the best odds, wound up with the No. 3 pick). Cleveland used the No. 5 pick to select Darius Garland before later selecting swingman Dylan Windler and guard Kevin Porter Jr. later in the first round.

The 2020 NBA Draft is now scheduled to take place on October 15.

So this season was a success, at least in the sense that it could have been worse and far more disappointing. But maybe we land a beast. We ran and played harder once The Experiment stepped aside.

Would you take LBJ back if possible? Not sure that i would.

Go, Cavs!

j/c:

'NBA Players on Restart Plan: Not So Fast'

https://www.wsj.com/articles/nba-players-on-restart-plan-not-so-fast-11592139635

I would. The effort he gives to the Cavs is second to none. He won this town their only major professional sports title since 1964.

He'll be back for his Swan Song to retire a Cavalier, I think, but I doubt he comes before then.

I think it's doubtful he comes back. He won the title for CLE and his hometown. He fulfilled that chapter in his life.

He sold his house in Bath. He did not do this when he left for Miami.

He'll stay out in L.A. That's where all the opportunity is outside of basketball as well.

Yes, to all of this.

And yes, to I'd take him back. That's kind of a silly question actually.

I think its the opposite. He still owns the house on Idlebrook, he put his miami house up for sale this year

You're correct. I remember a lot of talk about his Bath home going up for sale, but it looks like that never happened.

I still do not think he's coming back again for a retirement season, though I'd take him back.

The chapter is closed.

I don't see him coming back outside of that signing a one day deal to retire a cavalier, but there's no guarantee that would be something he'd even want to do.

I don't really care. He only has a few really good seasons left, and it's going to be with anthony davis and the lakers. I don't want to see a washed up lebron dribbling down the court with the cavs. It may not be healthy for what will likely still be a growing team.

I am happy he came back and won the title. I am good if that was it. I don't think he owes the organization or the fans anything else. He will get a statue outside of the Q one day, and have his number retired, etc.. So cavs fans will get that great moment still.

I am pulling for him too. I hope he wins. I am still a fan. You won't catch me in laker gear but i will always pull for him when it's not against the cavs

j/c...

Best Father's Day ever.

The block, the shot, the stop.

Boom.

j/c...

j/c...

See, they can't even go a week or so to open back up. Sports teams just need to face it, it isn't going to happen.

I just hope we can get things going for next year because if not, we are going to see teams across all sports start to fold.

I don't know how it works with contracted players on if they still get paid or if teams have protections if games aren't played, but teams still have salaried employees. How do you pay them if you aren't selling tickets and getting TV/radio money? How do you pay for team facilities, stadiums, insurance, utilities?

I am sure most owners can hang for a season without, and am sure the individual leagues will help to prop up weaker teams, but owners aren't going to continue to deplete their fortunes if games aren't being played, nor should they be expected.

Think of movie stars, who is going to pay Tom Hanks $20 mil to star in some production when there aren't places to screen it?

I guess they can still do pay per view with Comcast or Netflix, or whoever.

Because of all those reasons you cited, there may be no other choice than to just start living life. If you get it, you get it. If you aren't exhibiting symptoms, you're not sick. You play. No different than the flu.

I'm not trying to minimize this. My family is one of the responsible ones. Doing everything we can to be safe and keep others safe. I'm particularly concerned about my daughter and my parents. But this is here to stay and it's not going to go away. How do you live with it? Same way you do as the flu?

I don't have all the answers. But sports teams folding feels like armageddon, and I don't want to think about it.

I understand. I don't like it at all.

I am also one of those who feels we can't just crawl in to a hole and hide away for ever. You have to continue to live, but as you, I believe you need to be responsible. Players can't play in facemasks, or spacesuits and helmets.

We have grown up in good times. In the course of human history, there have been many plagues and famine that have changed how people have had to live. We just happened to live in a time where we had more advances in medical care and food production.

Well, maybe it's our turn for a setback. I am not totally sure how old you are, but I think there is some age on you. I don't worry about myself so much. Sure I want to live as long a possible and in decent health, but I have 7 decades on me.

We expect to live in to the mid-late 70's and above. We may be headed to a phase where young people today might only think 50 is a good run.

A quick search, 100 years ago, 1920 was 54 years old was life expectancy. I am sure you know someone born in the 20"s. Maybe a parent, Aunt, Uncle, even grandparent if you are younger. Just for context, all of my grandparents were born in the 1800's except for one, she was born in 1900.

No doubt much of the gains were with childhood disease. Go in to any old graveyard and you find stones, baby Hortense or baby Wilbur, aged 1. You just don't see all that many infant stones today, Thank God.

Let's hope we get this figured out.