Quarantine NBA playoffs in Las Vegas? That option is being floated amid coronavirus
As of right now, the sports world is a desolate wasteland of fractured memories and a tumbleweed or two. Fans have been anxiously pawing at slight glimmers of hope that suggest a possible return in the future, but those hopes have been slashed as coronavirus numbers rise across the United States.
Enter Las Vegas.
The idea of possibly ending the NBA season (halted by COVID-19 in March after Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for the virus) in a single-site playoff tournament has been tossed around the league, according to reporters close to the situation.
Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated believes that it’s all-too-possible that the season could end on the Vegas strip.
“Quarantine the players in July in Las Vegas and to have some form of a tournament that eventually crowns a champion,” Mannix said on the Felger and Mazz podcast on Tuesday. “It’s workable. It’s doable.”
“Hunger Games” speak aside, is it truly possible? Or is just another pipe dream that fans will chase around like a cat after a laser pointer dot?
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski believes it could be a thing to consider.
“Las Vegas has been a destination that has been discussed, built around the idea of literally perhaps using a casino, playing games in potentially a ballroom with courts,” Wojnarowski said on ESPN’s “SportsCenter.” “There’s lots of different scenarios, almost all of which would be built around the idea of a return without fans in the stands.”
While possibly a good idea in theory, quite a few players have gone on the record saying that the game is worthless without the fans there to cheer them on.
Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James has said that he wouldn’t play a game without fans in attendance — and while he has since said that he’s more “open” to the idea, it still irks him.
“I still think, like, having a game without fans is just — what is the word ‘sport’ without ‘fan’?” James said on the podcast Road Trippin’ with Richard Jefferson, Channing Frye and Allie Clifton. “There’s no excitement. There’s no crying. There’s no back-and-forth.”
James went on to say that having a roaring crowd at a player’s back just “brings out the competitive side of the players.”
Las Vegas is already home to the NBA Summer League tournament, so we know the strip was built for such an event. But if they did find a way to hold a tournament akin to the NCAA’s Sweet 16, they would have to cancel the remainder of the NBA’s regular season and only include the top teams in the Eastern and Western conferences.
It may be wishful thinking right now but hey, there’s still hope.
This story was originally published April 1, 2020 at 11:00 AM with the headline "Quarantine NBA playoffs in Las Vegas? That option is being floated amid coronavirus."