NBA Commissioner Adam Silver says his league still is continuing with plans to restart the pro basketball season on July 30 amid the lessening restrictions due to the novel coronavirus, but “a lot of cases” could cause it to stop.
Silver, in a Time 100 Talks interview on Tuesday, would not quantify “a lot” nor would he define the term “significant spread” that he used in a press conference with reporters on Friday.
“Honestly … I’m not sure,” Silver said in the Time interview. “We have a panel of scientists, doctors, experts that are working with us. We’re going to see as we go.
“Certainly, if we have a lot of cases, we’re going to stop. You cannot run from this virus.”
Twenty-two of the NBA’s 30 teams are due to report to Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orland on July 7 with the intention of playing a hybrid season/playoff closed-door competition at the resort without spectators beginning at the end of July.
The NBA suspended its season on March 11 after Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive.
Sixteen out of 302 players screened have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the NBA announced last week, including 2017 All-Star DeAndre Jordan of the Brooklyn Nets and Jabari Parker of the Sacramento Kings, although Silver said none were seriously ill.
“It’s not alarming based on what we’re seeing in the broader population,” Silver said. “In many ways, it was somewhat predictable. Where I’m most relieved … is that among those 16 positive tests, there are no severe cases.
“(It’s) never ‘full steam no matter what,'” he added. “One thing we’re learning about this virus is that much is unpredictable.”
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.