The LA Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard joined multiple other NBA stars on a conference call to talk about how ready they are to resume the 2019-20 season.
While Adam Silver runs the NBA, there is no denying the stars of the league have a lot of pull. Some of those stars, including the LA Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard, took it upon themselves to have a conference call to create a unified agreement to want to resume the 2019-2020 season.
Chris Paul as the head of the Player’s Association arranged a call that featured Leonard, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Damian Lillard, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kevin Durant, and others regarding the ramifications that COVID-19 has had on players individually and on the league as a whole.
Of course, when a group of the league’s best get together like this, their talking will likely influence Silver’s decision to resume play under the right conditions to allow players to continue playing in a safe environment.
Yahoo Sports Chris Haynes spoke more on the conference call after breaking the news on Tuesday.
.@ChrisBHaynes discusses the conference call between NBA superstars and what it means for the NBA season.
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) May 12, 2020
"This is significant with the superstars voicing their opinion that they want to go out there and play being that all safety precaution measures are taken." pic.twitter.com/LZDnin7w4d
The private conference call was held on Monday just before Major League Baseball announced that their league owners created a proposal to begin to play in July.
Again, all of the superstars on the call want to ensure they have the safest possible environment for league action, and Haynes himself believes that if the superstars are so willing to return then their respective teams are as well under the right conditions.
The NBA has pondered with the idea of playing in centralized locations such as Orlando, Florida or Las Vegas, Nevada, allowing players and staff to bring families with them but be placed in specific locations and environments that would ensure their safety.
NBA league officials will no doubt look at the full details of this meeting and take them into consideration, but the decision will ultimately remain in the hands of major medical officials and the government to decide when it is ok for the NBA to resume.
Having Leonard on the call and agreeing to want to resume the season is huge as the Clippers are prime title contenders if regular season play resumes or if the league decides to skip directly to the postseason. Seeing Leonard, Paul George and the other Clippers’ players is something we all want to see but know their health is paramount.