Moral authority and the NBA's resumption plans

Sometimes, public sentiment can push the NBA to make business decisions in line with prevailing morality. This is not going to be one of those cases.

Good morning. Let’s basketball.

Under the Lamp, Marie Bracquemond

More news on the NBA season resumption front. First, some superstars got together for a conference call to discuss whether they want the league to continue to pursue resuming the season at some point. They do! This is anticipated to matter because the players’ union is polling its membership on a straight up-or-down vote on whether they are comfortable restarting. The leaked endorsement of LeBron, Steph Curry, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kawhi Leonard, Kevin Durant and others is believed to boost the chance that most players also endorse the concept.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the equation, the NBA Board of Governors got together to discuss the same topic and came away telling reporters they are feeling optimistic about resuming. One of the key discussion points was apparently how the league would deal with a player testing positive for coronavirus during the resumed season in a “bubble site” in Nevada, Arizona or Florida (the top reported options). The league believes that shutting down the league after a positive test would eventually doomed the season, and that players and ownership alike need to be comfortable continuing to run games even if players or personnel pop up positive.

One presumes that the calculus would be different if a player tests positive and gets really, really sick. But alas.

There are some battle lines forming all around this topic, with some fans and analysts arguing that it’s morally bankrupt for the NBA to be preparing to play this summer given that more than 1,000 Americans are still dying of coronavirus most days. Others are arguing that if the players and league personnel are willing to risk it, and the risk to the general public is removed due to barring fans from attendance and sheltering the league in one or two locales, then who are we to deny them this?

The debate is really heated and, to my eye, folks are talking in certainties they can’t possibly know. There’s so much confusion around testing availability, the long-term impacts of having contracted coronavirus, risk factors for various age groups. There’s a whole lot of money at stake. And let’s be really honest: the money is not just at stake for NBA team owners, NBA players and coaches and the auxiliary personnel. There’s a lot of money at stake for sports media!

Ethics are never front of mind in NBA decision-making. It’s a business, and the decision to resume or not will be a business decision. Fans and the media have a role to play more generally in discussing the morality and ethics of various decisions, a role that can (in the best, rare cases) impact business decisions. The Donald Sterling affair is one of those situations: the public reaction was so strong that sponsors backed away from the Clippers and players threatened a boycott, which would have been extremely costly to the NBA. So Sterling got booted. There was no financial impact to the league when Sterling was given a record fine for housing discrimination. And what do you know? He kept his team through all of that, despite the moral bankruptcy of that being allowed to happen.

Nothing like that is going to occur here. And in fact, the financial considerations are almost entirely lined up on the side in favor of resuming the season. Moral lines in the sand won’t likely do much good unless it’s the players or some other set of interested parties (the coaches’ association? the refs?) steps in. It appears the players are on board with resumption, at least right now. Everyone else would likely prefer to get paid if it is at all possible.

By focusing on a limited number of bubble sites in states that are in the process of re-opening to some degree, the NBA is also taking the decision out of the hands of individual governors and public health officers. So while you could see prominent epidemiologists or sudden health celebrities speak out against the league’s plan, those are unlikely to have the force of law. The NBA has been grooming its own shadow health team, including Obama-era surgeon general Vivek Murthy, to provide some scientific legitimacy and authority.

Everyone should speak their truths. But this is one of those situations where public pressure is highly unlikely to matter in the end if everyone is on board with resumption in the r̶o̶o̶m̶ Zoom where it happens.

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Bob Sarver Is Amazing

Jay King from The Athletic wrote about the Suns’ interest in drafting Jayson Tatum. ($) It’s an interesting read in which Earl Watson, then Phoenix’s coach, basically says he was begging the team to pick Tatum if available or move up to get him. (The Suns had the No. 4 pick, and took Josh Jackson. Tatum went No. 3.) Watson argues that others in the organization, especially beguiling, reviled franchisee Robert Sarver, thought Tatum too similar to Devin Booker. Watson claims he knew they’d be flawless together.

Is some of this revisionist history from Watson, who appears to harbor some resentment for his treatment by Phoenix? Probably. Is it moot since Tatum was off the board before the Suns picked with no indication the Lakers (who had the No. 2 pick) were interested in moving down? Yeah. But this passage right here is too good to pass up. TOO GOOD.

Tatum’s pre-draft workout for the Suns, in Los Angeles, only solidified Watson’s belief in the [Tatum-Booker] pairing’s potential. Beginning with the shooting demonstration, it was, as Watson said, “a crazy workout.”

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Watson said. “I could see it quick like I saw it in Devin Booker quick, when people questioned it. I could see it quick. And (during the shooting drill) the owner [Robert Sarver] stopped him. I don’t know how many more he could have made, but the owner stopped the drill. And you don’t stop that drill. You just don’t. You just sit there and you admire it and you stay out of the way. So the owner stops the drill and says, ‘That’s nice. What else can you do?’ I’m like, ‘What? What? The workout should be over. This is our guy.’”

Unbelievable. It’s really a mystery why the Suns have gone in the direction they have since Sarver bought the team, isn’t it?

Links

Matt Ellentuck on what Diamond DeShields needs to improve on to lead the Chicago Sky to a title.

Jason Jones makes the Hall of Fame case for Chris Webber in The Athletic. ($) This is a hobby horse of mine, and I endorse this argument!

Hey, Mo Williams is the new head coach at Alabama State!

An oral history of Kawhi Leonard’s bounce shot.

Not that this is a front-of-mind problem, but Chinese state T.V. still won’t broadcast NBA games.

The Lakers should retire Pau Gasol’s jersey.

The office environment is going to be so weird for those heading back.

Huh, the Mamba Sports Academy is changing its name.

Be excellent to each other.