Michael Jordan Voices Against Meaningless Games as a Part of NBA’s Return Post Coronavirus

The NBA has been looking at various scenarios for resuming the league. However, Charlotte Hornets owner Michael Jordan has reportedly advocated for players’ safety. Shams Charania of The Athletic wrote on Twitter that Jordan was against having players return for “meaningless games.”

He said that the NBA discussed four possible scenarios for the league to restart- 16 teams directly playing the post season, 20 teams returning with a group stage followed by playoffs, 22 teams returning for the regular season along with a play-in tournament, and all 30 teams returning for a complete 72-game regular season along with a play-in tournament for the post season.

Michael Jordan does not want players to return for meaningless games

“Hornets owner Michael Jordan advocated on the call for player safety, and not simply having players return for meaningless games, sources said. Given the NBA is prioritizing health and safety first and foremost, 30 team return is unlikely,” Charania tweeted on Friday.

The possibility of a different kind of post season has been on the plate for a while now. While the NBA has been discussing various scenarios, NBA analyst Brian Windhorst has recently claimed that the NBA wants to involve Zion Williamson when the league resumes.

“I’ll tell you one thing: that scenario gets Zion Williamson in,” Windhorst said on The Hoop Collective. “Look, I’ve just heard… I’m not saying the NBA is going this route. I’m just saying I’ve already heard this scenario that no matter what happens, the cutoff line will be the Pelicans. They’ll be in. It will be the first time in the history of the NBA that the league kicked the ball into the fairway for New Orleans.”

Among the possibilities that Charania reported, only one- a 16-team post season- will not involve Williamson. Prior to the league’s suspension, New Orleans Pelicans were 10th in the Western Conference with a win-loss record of 28-36.

However, it is yet unclear as to how and when the league will resume. But the possibility of all 30 teams returning- as Jordan has also advocated- is increasingly unlikely. Even so, Charania’s previous reports state the NBA has set a target date of July 31 for the season’s resumption.