When NBA teams began reopening their stadiums to fans this winter and spring, players and coaches identified the crowd’s energy as the missing ingredient from empty arenas. From December to May, every team except for the Oklahoma City Thunder gradually permitted fans to return at limited capacity, but each team’s timing differed. As a result, […]
When COVID-19 delayed and shortened the 2020 MLB season, players considered to be “high-risk” were able to opt out of playing while still getting paid. Players who were not in that high-risk group could also opt out and not be in breach of contract — though they would forfeit their salary and service time. This […]
This week, we’re doing something a little different. Since it’s been almost exactly a year since the coronavirus pandemic changed life in the United States in earnest, we wanted to talk about what we’ve learned from this deeply weird year of sports, whether there are any changes we made during the pandemic we’d like to […]
In the days leading up to the resumption of the NBA season, there was one school of thought about the quality of basketball we would see. “It’s gonna take time for your offense to come,” said TNT analyst Reggie Miller during the first quarter of the ragged Lakers-Clippers bubble opener on July 30. “And that’s […]
chris.herring (Chris Herring, senior sportswriter): It’s been a minute since we last chatted about the NBA at length, and for good reason: The whole world changed, calling into question whether the season could even be resumed at one point. But now the restart is in full swing — with no virus cases detected — and […]