Lost in all the news of late were announcements by the NBA and Major League Soccer to return to action later this summer at Walt Disney World in Florida, music to the ears of fans desperate to see live competition after the coronavirus suspended most leagues for three months now. But tonight, the NBA’s grand reopening has taken an unexpected turn.
This comes on the heels of an earlier report stating that players expressed unhappiness with not being consulted before the decision to restart was made. According to Yahoo Sports, players were already hesitant about the plan to self-isolate with the pandemic still in effect. Then came the death of George Floyd. With protests calling for racial harmony intensifying, sources tell Yahoo, some players feel it’s not a good look for a mostly-black group of athletes to risk their health just so fans can be entertained and the NBA can stop its financial bleeding from not holding games.
Legitimate concerns, to be sure. Also quite predictably, there is a lot of mixed reaction on Twitter to these reports. Just another episode of the soap opera that is 2020. Be sure to tune in next week.