According to new reports, owners and top executives in the NBA are currently eyeing mid-June as a probable timeline for the league to return, and even then, they don't foresee allowing fans to attend games just yet.
"CDC recommendation of no events of 50-plus people for next two months comes as a number of NBA owners and executives increasingly believe a best-case scenario is a mid-to-late June return to play -- with no fans," reveals ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. "League's scouting for possible arena dates all the way thru August."
As testing for the COVID-19 infection is slowed exponentially in the United States, any return to normal activities seems pretty far away especially as the general population is expected to lean into social distancing as a primary preemptive measure. Since the announcement of the season's suspension, many players and team owners have committed to donating money and resources to hourly workers within the league whose income will be greatly impacted by the cessation of operations.
Among those are Utah Jazz player Rudy Gobert who became the league's first confirmed case of COVID-19, ultimately spurring the decision to suspend the season. Prior to being diagnosed, Gobert made light of the situation purposefully touching all of the mics at a press conference.
"At the time, I had no idea I was even infected. I was careless and make no excuse," Gobert stated in an apology. "I hope my story serves as a warning and causes everyone to take this seriously. I will do whatever I can to support using my experience as way to educate others and prevent the spread of this virus."