The NBA Playoffs in 2020 had already been delayed once due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. But they almost got cancelled again.
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The 2020 NBA Playoffs will forever be remembered for the unique manner in which it was held. The basketball league’s off-season usually takes place in the summer months. In 2020, they were set to get underway on April 11; however, COVID-19 had other plans. The league was suspended in March after the coronavirus was declared a pandemic. The league was then restarted in a bio-bubble at Florida and would eventually be completed. However, the league was almost called off due to real-life events that had nothing to do with the sport itself. It did not happen, but the fact that it was considered speaks volumes.
With a year having gone since the league went on strike, let us look back at how events unfolded – and how the league was eventually completed.
Once the league was suspended due to some players testing positive for the virus, the major question at hand was always how the league would restart.
That the matches would be held behind closed doors was a given. But what about the players? Given lockdowns were being imposed to curb the spread of the virus, travelling to and from all parts of the nation made no sense.
Eventually, the league settled in on the the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex inside Walt Disney World in Bay Lake, Florida to host all remaining games.
To protect from any COVID-19 outbreaks, the players were housed in a bio-bubble. This was commonly referred to at the time as the NBA Bubble.
Matches would initially go off without a hitch from July 31 onwards. However, an event unrelated to the sport would plunge the league into unplanned chaos.
On August 26, there were three games scheduled to take place. The Milwaukee Bucks would take on Orlando Magic. The Los Angeles Lakers were facing the Portland Trail Blazers. And the Houston Rockets would play Oklahoma Thunder.
Yet when the time came for the first game of the day – Bucks vs Magic – the Bucks were nowhere to be seen on court. The players chose to remain in the dressing room and boycotted the game.
The Magic players were out and training, but would eventually leave the court after it became clear the match wasn’t happening.
The NBA would put out a statement eventually, saying the matches would be rescheduled.
“The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association today announced that in light of the Milwaukee Bucks’ decision to not take the floor today for Game 5 against the Orlando Magic, today’s three games – Bucks vs. Magic, Houston Rockets vs. Oklahoma City Thunder and Los Angeles Lakers vs. Portland Trail Blazers – have been postponed. Game 5 of each series will be rescheduled.”
The reason for the strike? The shooting of Jacob Blake, an African-American man, by the police. Blake was shot 7 times in his own car despite being unarmed. He did not die, but was paralysed from the waist down thereafter.
The incident led to protests around the nation and the NBA players felt the need to speak out as well. What’s more, it even led to a meeting between franchises and the league.
The LA Lakers and LA Clippers were in favour of boycotting the entire season as a way to send their message across. However, most other franchises voted to carry on playing.
This reportedly did not go down well with the LA-based franchises, with LeBron James even reportedly leaving the meeting after teams agreed to carry on.
Yet the fact that the remaining matches were played out did little to dampen the spirit of activism that existed in the NBA. In fact, the players would come together to send a message of solidarity and support.
The league had already made clear its plans to let athletes speak out on political issues. Unsurprisingly, this earned the ire of then-president Donald Trump, who criticised the league.
Not that it mattered to the players. Most of them were vocally anti-Trump and they continued to take the knee in the remaining games.
The teams had also donated money to organisations that worked for the upliftment of marginalised sections of society prior to the league resuming.
On the sporting side of things, it was – with some irony – the LA Lakers who ended the NBA Playoffs as champions. James and co. beat the Miami Heat to win the title.
