The NBA might need to implement a bubble for the 2020-21 season, Players Association Executive Director Michele Roberts told CBS Sports Radio on Tuesday.
“Me, the league, we all agreed that under these current circumstances, given what the virus is doing, given the absence of a vaccine, given the state of medicine, if this remains the way the world is working, then we know what the safe way is to play,” Roberts said on The Zach Gelb Show, referring to the bubble. “I want to believe that we are going to figure this thing out and things will change and we’re not going to have to find ourselves walking around with masks for the rest of our lives. I want to believe that, and I did kind of believe that. I think that we’ve got some really smart scientists that are going to come up with something. But if that doesn’t happen, if tomorrow is today, then again, we know how we have to play: it’s called in a bubble.”
The NBA is slated to resume the 2019-20 season Thursday at the ESPN Wide World of Sports at Disney World in Orlando, Florida. While Major League Baseball is struggling to contain the virus – the Miami Marlins’ season has already been paused – the NBA has gone three weeks without a positive test inside of its bubble.
But would NBA players actually be okay living in a bubble for an entire season?
“I haven’t said that,” Roberts said, laughing. “I haven’t said that. Again, I’m optimistic we will figure out a way to figure this virus out. We have historically figured it out. I’m not suggesting that we won’t. But if we don’t, [the NBA] got it right. This is the way to do it – and if you don’t believe me, ask the Marlins.”