What we are witnessing now in the NBA is how difficult it is to do the right thing. And the league knew it could be that way.
With the Mavericks game on Monday night against the New Orleans Pelicans postponed for health and safety reasons, it is another example of how difficult it will be to make it through this season.
As Rick Carlisle said at the weekend: “We hoped that this sort of thing would be a realistic possibility and now we are dealing with it.”
Just like the whole team. The Mavericks have one of the most respected medical teams in the NBA. They take care that everything in terms of health is done well.
And it still hasn’t stopped COVID-19 from interrupting the season.
The NBA is in a difficult situation. It is not like the NFL, which only plays 16 regular season games, has a week (usually) between games and has lineups with 50 odd players.
All of these are luxuries that give a sports league a chance to fight for a season. The NFL had only a few occasions when games were postponed and they were able to complete the entire regular season schedule.
The NBA has already reduced its schedule to 72 games (out of 82) and even that seems dubious at the moment.
The league and players’ association representatives met on Monday to see what can be done to change the medical protocols, hopefully finding a way to put safety first, but also still have a season.
In a way, the NBA was betting on the arrival of this season. The vaccine was on its way when it was decided to play a calendar from Christmas. But a new variety was also on the way.
In a month or two, the landscape can be very different.
But clearly, the NBA is doing what needs to be done. You can’t mess with people’s health, whether it’s a player earning a billion dollars or support staff and arena workers.
And this virus will not go away.
The NBA knew that. The teams would have to deal with situations of lack of manpower, games that are postponed and stretches when training is not allowed.
If you think about it, so far the championship has been lucky. No one associated with any team ended up in the hospital with the coronavirus – at least not that we know of.
Therefore, teams are having to adapt. We heard Tim Hardaway Jr. say weeks ago that any teams that adjust and deal with the inevitable adverse situations will find themselves in a much more palatable situation in April and May.
In that respect, the Mavericks have done very well so far. They are 5-4 and will likely put Kristaps Porzingis on the active squad as soon as they return to play, or shortly thereafter. He was listed as questionable for Monday until the game was canceled.
The Mavericks have enough players to play, according to reports from The Dallas Morning News and others. Even without Porzingis, they had 10 players (plus two two-way players). That is still enough to play the game. But the NBA is taking contact tracking very seriously.
And that’s good.
The Mavericks are also eliminating many street games at a time when there are no fans in most arenas. Who knows if the spectators will be in the stands at the end of the season.
The Mavericks have isolated sections of seats at the American Airlines Center, leaving some seats open and then blocking three or four seats. So, clearly, the team is ready for when fans can return to the building.
For now, we are without guarantees. Mavericks has at least four players who have been placed on health and safety protocols for at least some period of time. Everyone could return soon or disappear for a while. And remember, Mavericks in theory play five of their next six games on the road, where things are a little more difficult to control.
Schedule disruptions will happen this unusual season, which is becoming an even more turbulent journey than the end of last season in the bubble.
But this is how things should be, for now.
Twitter: @ESefko