By Robert Frankenstein
Orlando, Fla. – On March 11, 2019, the National Basketball Association halted their league and suspended the season indefinitely.
In the following week, more cancellations would follow. On March 12 came the cancellations of almost every NCAA conference championship and the worst news yet, the NCAA basketball tournament had to be cancelled for the 2019-2020 season. This will have ripple effects in every division of the game.
What this means for Highschool Basketball:
High school basketball finished their state tournaments in most states just mere days before NBA center Rudy Gobert tested positive for the coronavirus. Although this means that some teams finished their respective seasons, high school basketball was unable to host their national championship tournament for the 2020 season. Along with this, many spring showcases were cancelled that would’ve brought large crowds to venues.
What does this mean for high school seniors? Communicating with college coaches and visiting schools has gotten much more difficult since the outbreak. Athletes who are right on the edge of playing college ball are at a huge disadvantage now without any showcases being held in the spring.
High School senior Gammi Santos is an athlete who just came onto the scene as a senior this past season. At Lake Brantley High School in Central Florida, Santos averaged 12.7 points per game, 6.2 rebounds, and 5.4 assists per game at the point guard position in just his first year on varsity. “A lot of the top recruits have been talking with head coaches for multiple years by the time their seniors,” said Santos. “For me, I’m trying to reach out to coaches during this pandemic, the chances of them seeing me are considerably worse.” Like most high school athletes, Santos has wanted to play college basketball since he was just a kid. He is now considering reclassifying to 2021 and doing a year of prep school basketball.
Santos’s high school coach, Mike Cuff, thinks this is the best decision his star point guard could make. “We want all of our guys to have a chance to get into school for basketball because that’s the only thing some of these kids have,” Cuff explained. “Santos really shined with us this year, and I can know he’s got more potential than he has shown thus far.” While players in high school wish they had more time to show off their skills, it is actually the college athletes losing the most airtime.
College basketball and March Sadness:
For fans and players alike, march madness is one of the most exciting times of the year in the sports world. Due to the outbreak of Covid-19 across the globe, there will be no NCAA tournament this season, no conference championships, and there will be no national champion for the 2020 season.
March 12 was the rocky conclusion to what had been one of the most unpredictable college basketball seasons to date. In a season where seven number one ranked teams fell during the regular season, the tournament was shaping up to be any teams to win.
Michigan State lost the number one ranking on opening night by falling to Kentucky, and then the Wildcats preceded to lose to Evansville a day after taking the number one spot in the poll. Duke, Louisville, Kansas, Gonzaga, and Baylor would all hold the number one spot at one point until Kansas was proclaimed the regular season champions, finishing first in the final ap poll after defeating Baylor.
Some conferences declared certain teams to be the conference champions even after their conference tournaments were cancelled. Florida State was hailed as the ACC champions, while the Dayton Flyers unanimously claimed the Atlantic 10 conference title after going 18-0 in conference play.
While these are technical victories, players coaches, and fans alike feel like the season amounted to no real conclusion. A problem that some fans fail to realize is the NCAA tournament is the only time that some smaller schools while get their players on national television. That a concern raised by Arkansas Little Rock Trainer, Josh Bucher. “Our leading scorer Markquis Nowell can ball, but I doubt he’ll get any NBA scouts looking his way now.” Bucher said. “Our conference tournament and the NCAA tournament are the only shots our boys get at showcasing their abilities to the world. If you got to see them play big name schools, you’d see how well some of the small school athletes can play.”
A big concern from NBA executives is that they won’t get to see the top NBA prospects compete against each other in the NCAA tournament. The tournament can help give scouts a better idea how the freak athletes compete against people with similar size and strength. One main player scouts wanted to see play was Obi Toppin, a forward out of the University of Dayton. The 6’9 sophomore was voted the 2020 Naismith Trophy winner and led Dayton to their best finish in school history with their final record being 29-2.
Toppin shot 69% from the field and almost 40% from three-point range, while at the same time being considered one of the best dunkers in the history of college basketball. Most college basketball players are able to dunk, but not with the anger and consistency of Toppin. Toppin racked up 190 dunks in just 31 games this season.
The only concerns over his game was the lack of competition Toppin faced in the Atlantic 10 conference. One of Dayton’s two losses on the season came against the eventual “champions”, the Kansas Jayhawks. In this game, Toppin still put up similar numbers to his season averages against the top-rated defense in the nation.
However, this was only one game, and Toppin was sure to face plenty of big names in the NCAA tournament before it was cancelled. Now, scouts will have to take more of a gamble when wanting to select him or any small school prospects in this year’s NBA draft.
Is the NBA season a lost cause?
The NBA screeched to a halt when Jazz center Rudy Gobert was confirmed to have the coronavirus. What followed was the testing of every team who had faced the Jazz in the past two weeks, which led to multiple cases popping up on teams around the League. Recently, NBA commissioner Adam Silver announced that there are more than 7 players who have come back with positive tests, but the NBA will not be releasing their names.
This is not good news for the NBA. This could weaken several team’s playoff chances if the NBA season resumes due to them having players that had contracted the virus. In early April, there was a growing feeling the NBA season would be cancelled. However, in the last week, there has been growing optimism that play will resume. If the season was cancelled though, what would it mean for some championship contenders.
The Milwaukee Bucks absolutely need the season to be finished. If this season is lost, they will have only one chance next season to win the NBA finals and convince the 2019 NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo to stay with the franchise long term. Giannis has denied he wants to leave, although reports of the him growing frustrated with the franchise if there are a lack of results have gained traction.
Let’s flip to opposite sides of the spectrum and discuss a team that would be more than happy to end the 2019-2020 season early, the Golden State Warriors. Golden State is coming off of five straight finals appearances but have mustered the worst record in the league up to this point in the season. Due to their star players being hurt for the majority of this year, the Warriors are very likely to score a top three draft pick in this year’s draft lottery.
Golden State may not be wanting to use this pick, however. This is because the Warriors could be relying on the Bucks not winning a championship so they can make another blockbuster move for Antetokounmpo like they did for Kevin Durant in 2016. Both players would be in the same situations, two years removed from winning MVP awards and both frustrated by a lack of results. If this works out, Golden State will be virtual locks in the NBA finals for another three seasons, destroying the parody fans saw this year from the league.
Meanwhile, both teams in LA would be on the hot seat. Lebron James isn’t getting any younger, and many believe that this season was his best chance at winning his fourth ring. His super star teammate Anthony Davis has a history of injury problems but managed to stay healthy most of this year. That may not be the case in future seasons.
Meanwhile, the Clippers are in an all or nothing scenario without the playoffs this year. This team made moves for Kawhi Leonard and Paul George this season, but it cost them all of their future draft picks and their only young prospect, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for them. However, both stars deals expire in 2021. If this season doesn’t produce a champion, then the Clippers gave up their entire future as a franchise for one year of Paul George and Kawhi Leonard.
There are a handful of teams in the NBA that need to win now, and if they don’t, then some big changes may be instore for some of the league’s most notable franchises.
Fans everywhere are hoping for the return of NBA basketball, but at the moment, nobody knows how long this pandemic will have a grip on our country or the entire globe. For now, continue to observe social distancing and stay home if possible. Everyone doing their part can hopefully lead to a swift return to play.
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