Cancelation of the Summer Olympics could make life easier for the NBA

The 2020 Summer Olympics were pushed back a year as a result of the ongoing COVID pandemic, and the NBA shaped its 2020-21 season around the idea of wrapping up in time to send its players to compete in Japan. When the league laid out its tentative season, there were several clear benchmarks they intended to keep on track, and late July was their target to finish the season.

As of now, the NBA’s schedule is structured in two halves, with the league playing through its first half right now. The second half is intended to allow for rescheduling postponed games and other varying issues that may arise from a league playing a condensed schedule during a pandemic, and March 11th is the date the second half is expected to resume.

As for the season’s end, the current latest date the NBA Finals could extend to is July 22nd, just in time for players to bolt to Japan and join their national teams.

Of course, this timeline assumes that the Summer Olympics go on as planned. As of Thursday night, that is becoming increasingly unlikely.

Per report from The Times, the Japanese government has privately concluded that the Summer Olympics should be canceled because of COVID:

"The Japanese government has privately concluded that the Tokyo Olympics will have to be cancelled because of the coronavirus, and the focus is now on securing the Games for the city in the next available year, 2032."

It’s worth noting that the International Olympic Committee is less convinced that the games should not go on, and IOC chief Thomas Bach reiterated to the Kyodo News that there is no Plan B:

"“We have at this moment, no reason whatsoever to believe that the Olympic Games in Tokyo will not open on the 23rd of July in the Olympic stadium in Tokyo,” Bach said in an online interview with Kyodo News two days ahead of marking six months until the rescheduled event begins.“This is why there is no plan B and this is why we are fully committed to make these games safe and successful,” he said.But he hinted at the possibility of reducing the number of spectators, saying the IOC has to be “flexible” to protect the lives of the people involved.“You may not like it but sacrifices will be needed. This is why I’m saying, safety first, and no taboo in the discussion to ensure safety,” the IOC president said."

So Japan has expressed a reluctant desire to cancel the Summer Olympics and instead aim to host in 2032, but the IOC is less than interested in letting them off the hook. Ultimately, the Japanese government will call the shot, and right now it appears they don’t expect that the games can take place.

This clearly has worldwide sporting implications, but it hits home for the NBA as well. Although a number of players would love to represent their countries in the 2020 Summer Olympics, its cancelation could potentially simplify the COVID issues the league is currently going through.

What canceling the Summer Olympics could mean for the NBA

As it stands now, the Washington Wizards are suffering through a widespread outbreak of COVID and haven’t played since January 11th. The NBA had hoped to return them to action against the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday, but after nearly two weeks without even being able to practice, cooler heads prevailed. The NBA postponed that game as well to allow their players time to get back into game shape and avoid potential injuries coming off an extended period of inactivity.

In addition to the Wizards travails, the Memphis Grizzlies have a large number of players out due to the league’s contact tracing and health and safety protocols. This means that at least their next three games will be postponed. As of Thursday, including these aforementioned games, the NBA is up to 19 postponed games.

The league has been reluctant to consider bringing the season to a pause in spite of the increasing rash of postponements. This is thanks in large part to the tight window provided them by the 2020 Summer Olympics. If there are no Olympics to shoot for, however, the only goal for this season’s schedule becomes a matter of getting back on track for a typical October start to the 2021-22 season (and getting there healthy).

There may be other peripheral reasons to keep on with this season, such as the fact that players who are occupied most of the time by basketball won’t have as much opportunity to go out and catch and spread COVID in their communities. When players are on the road under the league’s COVID protocols, they are essentially under lockdown in their hotels, and they are under a virtual shelter-in-place order at home.

The NBA would theoretically lose that control if the season was brought to a pause, and players and staff would be potentially left to their own devices and no longer tested rigorously.

Pausing the season could inadvertently make a bad problem a whole lot worse, and there’s no putting the genie back in the bottle if that’s what happens. However, if the Olympics get canceled, at least there is an option and something for the NBA to consider.