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March 8, 2021

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Silver no to global games next season

There will be no international games on the National Basketball Association schedule next season but there is hope teams will be back playing in near full arenas in 2021-22 as the United States gains control of the COVID-19 pandemic, commissioner Adam Silver said on Saturday at his pre-All Star Game media conference.

With last year鈥檚 season held in a quarantine bubble in Orlando, Florida, and the current campaign being played in mostly empty arenas, Silver said the resumption of international games will be on hold until at least the 2022-23 season.

鈥淔irst of all, no plans yet to travel for next season,鈥 said Silver, talking ahead of the All-Star Game in Atlanta, Georgia. 鈥淚n all likelihood, we won鈥檛 travel internationally until the following season.

鈥淏ut the plan remains to try to resume our season as close to so-called normal as possible next year.

鈥淔rankly, I鈥檓 fairly optimistic at this point that we will be able to start on time, and that we have roughly half of our teams having fans in their arenas right now.鈥

This season is set to end in mid-July allowing players who want to participate in the Olympics to go to Tokyo.

Silver also noted that a July finish will give players a chance to recover as the league looks to get back on a regular cycle.

Although there are currently no plans to return to a quarantine bubble for the NBA playoffs, Silver said he could not rule out the possibility.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 rule anything out just because one thing we鈥檝e all come to understand over the last year is that the virus is firmly in charge,鈥 said Silver, adding that the league will not require players to be vaccinated against COVID-19. 鈥淲e need to adjust to circumstances as they present themselves. I鈥檇 say maybe for the first time in the past year I鈥檓 fairly optimistic right now that as we see fans returning to our arenas.鈥

The NBA also has no plans to change it鈥檚 鈥渋conic鈥 logo, despite recent calls to make the late Kobe Bryant the image of the league, Silver said.

鈥淭he logo is iconic,鈥 he noted, adding that it 鈥渄oesn鈥檛 feel like it鈥檚 the appropriate moment to change it.鈥

A change.org petition urging the league to 鈥渋mmortalize (Bryant) forever as the new NBA logo鈥 has garnered more than 3 million signatures since Bryant died in a helicopter crash in January of 2020.

The current NBA logo is widely accepted to be based on the silhouette of former Lakers star Jerry West, who has said before he would be happy to see it change.

But Silver said there鈥檇 been no discussions on the topic in the league office.

Noting that the league had named the All-Star Game鈥檚 Most Valuable Player award after Bryant, Silver said the league could eventually revisit the idea of updating the logo design. 鈥淚 appreciate the sentiments, but it feels like the logo is appropriate right now,鈥 he said.


 

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