Although Kyrie Irving has voiced his opposition to the NBA’s restart plan, the majority of players still want to resume the 2019-20 season in Orlando in late July, says The Athletic’s Shams Charania.
Per Charania's reporting, Irving shared his thoughts on the season resumption in a conference call that included 80 NBA players last Friday.
Irving, along with Los Angeles Lakers players Dwight Howard and Avery Bradley, are among a coalition of players who have expressed concern that playing will take away from their push for social justice reforms in the wake of the death of George Floyd on May 25.
Charania joined Jared Greenberg and Greg Anthony on NBA TV's Gametime on Monday night to shed more light on the possibility of players sitting out the Orlando restart and the potential ramifications that could have on the league.
What was said on Friday's player conference call?
Shams Charania: I'm told Kyrie Irving and several other players, Dwight Howard and Avery Bradley as well as Carmelo Anthony, spoke up on Friday's conference call about unity and making a stand, using this moment to make a difference.
Kyrie Irving was clearly on the side of not going to Orlando. His comment 'something smells fishy' is, to me, about being asked to go and play and perform when there is so much going on in the country. A lot of this revolves around social injustice, racism and police brutality, causes that a lot of players are beginning to focus on and something that is becoming the foremost thing on their mind.
I still feel like the majority of players still want to play. There was a handful of guys who expressed themselves on that call who feel like it is time to come together, make a stand and sit out. But the vast majority of guys feel the season can continue.
LeBron James was not on the call and has said he believes playing helps the Black Lives Matter movement more, per a report by Sam Amick - is the restart in jeopardy?
SC: There is a segment of players that do believe, given the financial impact of not playing and the potential ripping apart of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) if they don't play, that should be on players' minds.
I think players feel like everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Adam Silver and executives around the league are respectful of every player being able to decide whether or not he wants to go to Orlando in late July.
LeBron James has made it clear, privately and publicly, that he wants to return to play. He believes the platform, when all the viewers are watching NBA games again, [will enable players] to continue to promote the racial and social injustices and potential reforms across the country.
At the end of the day, I'm told, the star players feel like they want to see the NBA and team owners around the league continue to strive to make changes and support the right causes. Commissioner Adam Silver has always been progressive and on the forefront of those things.
How many players could decide to sit out?
SC: As far as star players are concerned, I don't think we are going to see anyone from the Bucks, Lakers or Clippers sit out. But you already have two players on Friday's call - Bradley and Howard - already considering sitting out the season. Those are two potential major rotational losses for the Lakers.
It remains to be seen if those guys will go through with not playing but I do think there will be anywhere from three to maybe a dozen guys sitting out for personal reasons.
Is there are scenario where LeBron and National Basketball Players Association president Chris Paul talk to fellow superstars to get them to support the restart?
From what I am told those conversations are ongoing. Paul and Irving left the conversation on Friday saying, 'stay in touch, let's continue the dialogue'. I expect that will continue into this week.
The social injustices that have gone on in [the USA] are very 'in the mind' of these players and the NBA understands that. I think they are going to see how they can make an impact.
What are the financial ramifications of players not participating in the season restart?
If an individual player decides he doesn't want to play, for that player - unless he has the agreement from his team or a medical excuse - there will be a reduction in his pay for the games that he misses.
If the [campaign not to resume the season] becomes a league-wide thing, a major movement, and all the players decide they want to sit out - obviously there won't be season - there will be a loss of $1-2 billion this year and the ripping apart of the CBA, whenever that comes.
Those are all the ramifications that players - CJ McCollum, Chris Paul, Andre Iguodala and Garrett Temple, I'm told - tried to emphasize while being respectful of others' opinions and how they feel from a social reform standpoint.
The players and the league want to get back on the floor safely. The league believes it is at a safe point and is now allowing teams to test asymptomatic players. They have started to lift restrictions on testing. That is all because they want to do things gradually and allow the country to open up and have testing available before they resume play.