The NBA season is currently on hiatus amid the COVID-19 outbreak that has seen the number of cases in the United States jump into the thousands and, in the NBA specifically, three cases have been confirmed.
The minimum length of time for the NBA’s hiatus is 30 days, but with the CDC’s recent recommendation that all events over 50 people be canceled or postponed for eight weeks, the expectation is that the delay in the league getting back to play will be far longer than that. While the league is still preparing for a hopeful return this summer, the G League season appears to be nearing an official end due to the outbreak.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Malika Andrews, the G League is expected to cancel the remainder of the season, with the players getting paid through the end of the schedule.
Reporting with @malika_andrews: NBA teams operating G League franchises expect rest of the minor-league season will soon be cancelled, sources tell ESPN. Regular season runs thru end of March, playoffs into April. Players have been informed they'll be paid thru end of schedule.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) March 15, 2020
The league already has enough difficulties ahead trying to plan out how to restart the season that this is likely the appropriate decision with the G League. That players will be covered the rest of the season is an excellent move and will ensure the work stoppage won’t lead to players struggling to make ends meet. The question now is how the league will handle an extended absence for the NBA season.
If they do delay a start of the rest of the season until mid-summer, next season figures to need to be pushed back as well. The logistics of finishing this season for the NBA remain mind-boggling, but at least in the G League it seems to be over.
