Not Everyone is Supportive of NBA's Restart Plan
Last week, the NBA announced plans to restart the season at Disney World in Orlando, Florida. The league's board of governors and the players' union both approved a 22-team format, including all teams with a playoff spot and any club within six games of a berth, where eight games would be played to wrap up the regular season along with a possible play-in tournament for the eighth seed and post-season. The season is set to resume on July 30.
However, there are several prominent players who are still reluctant to accept this new plan. This Friday, Kyrie Irving led a call with over 80 NBA and WNBA players, during which they discussed this very topic. According to sources, Donovan Mitchell, Carmelo Anthony, and Dwight Howard among others talked about potentially sitting out this restart. In general, they did not fully support the season's resume due to nationwide unrest from social injustice and racism, not to mention the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The city of Orlando in particular does not appeal to them, due to Florida's notoriety for systematic racism.
Although going through with such a decision could certainly be controversial for fans and the media, the league has announced that players will face no consequences for abstaining from participation, other than a cut to their salary. Only time will tell how this situation is resolved.
