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Toronto Raptors: The NBA shouldn’t continue at Disney World

By Alexandro Fidanza

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 11: A person walks by a Disney store on May 11, 2020 in New York City. While some locations have begun reopening, New York City's stay-at-home order remains in place. COVID-19 has spread to most countries around the world, claiming over 286,000 lives with infections of over 4.2 million people. (Photo by Rob Kim/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 11: A person walks by a Disney store on May 11, 2020 in New York City. While some locations have begun reopening, New York City's stay-at-home order remains in place. COVID-19 has spread to most countries around the world, claiming over 286,000 lives with infections of over 4.2 million people. (Photo by Rob Kim/Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 11: A person walks by a Disney store on May 11, 2020 in New York City. While some locations have begun reopening, New York City’s stay-at-home order remains in place. COVID-19 has spread to most countries around the world, claiming over 286,000 lives with infections of over 4.2 million people. (Photo by Rob Kim/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 11: A person walks by a Disney store on May 11, 2020 in New York City. While some locations have begun reopening, New York City’s stay-at-home order remains in place. COVID-19 has spread to most countries around the world, claiming over 286,000 lives with infections of over 4.2 million people. (Photo by Rob Kim/Getty Images) /

There has been reports that the Toronto Raptors and the NBA can be resuming the season at Disney World.

As much as we’d all like to see the Toronto Raptors play basketball, I just don’t think it’ll happen. There have been reports that Disney World has been front runners to host the NBA finals, but would it be wise of them to put profit ahead of health?

Why the NBA want to start again.

The NBA would lose an enormous amount of profit if they don’t resume, and the salary cap can drop to as much as $30 million. This looks really bad for a league that had a salary cap increase of $24 million from the 2015-16 season to 2016-2017. It would bring the league backward and is a major reason that Adam Silver is trying to save the season.

The profit loss would come from TV deals. Right now, the NBA has tv deals with ABC, ESPN, and TNT. Not only would the NBA be losing money from not having games to show, but those platforms would also lose huge amounts of money. It’s a lose-lose situation for both, the broadcasters and the NBA if they don’t resume play this season.

The NBA has also never ever missed a year of play. Unlike the NHL, who missed a whole season of play due to a lockout in 2004-2005. The NBA has never had that problem. They did, of course, have the lockout in the 1998-1999 season and 2011-2012 season; but they did resume play in February both times. Having a season missed is something no fan or team wants to go through. Especially if you’re a contending team like the LA Lakers, Toronto Raptors, LA Clippers…

It’ll be a huge disappointment and a HUGEE “What if” in NBA history. A big “what if” that can be resolved if they go through with play in July.

Why the NBA shouldn’t continue.

Before I move on with this, I just want to say that I would love for the season to resume so we can have a winner, but we have to put ourselves in a position where we can see both sides, the business perspective, and the human perspective.

It would be very disrespectful to players and people who have lost someone to COVID-19 and for the season to resume. For instance, Karl Anthony Towns. KAT has lost his mother to COVID-19 during this pandemic. Losing a family member is a catastrophic event for anyone, and resuming play just seems unfair, no matter how safe the procedures are.

How would it reflect on the league if a player catches the virus unknowingly, and it is passed on to someone with health issues? They shouldn’t be allowed at the campus anyway, but who knows who and how someone can be infected. And if something were to happen to a player or a family member or even a reporter, how bad would the league look for trying to save the season out of greed — I know most players want to resume to the season to give the fans something, the NBA less.

It would definitely not look good, and going forward with sending teams to Disney World is accepting the fact that even if a player or players are infected, they will be moving forward on the campus. There are too many variables up in the air, and the NBA almost has to be perfect in executing this whole maneuver.

I understand the NBA is a business. Businesses will always try to make money before anything, ultimately that’s what a business is. But it always felt that the NBA has done a good job of putting the care of their players before anything, which is why I find it odd they want to continue the season so badly.

Let’s say the season does resume, and a big star gets COVID-19, then that player automatically misses two weeks of play. Let’s say Pascal Siakam gets it for the Toronto Raptors. Does a Toronto Raptors team really stand a chance against the Milwaukee Bucks and their full roster? No, not at all. I am understanding more and more why Shaquille O’Neal said that this year’s champion would carry a huge asterisks.

So yea, that is why I believe the NBA won’t return. Healthy should be the primary concern of the NBA, not profits. Who cares if the Toronto Raptors win the championship this season, if it is not won fairly. Everyone should stay safe and be with their loved ones during this pandemic because we never know what can happen to their loved ones if we’re

not careful.

Next. ESPN picks their All-Time Starting Five for the Toronto Raptors. dark

The NBA will have to have to be very careful and hope nothing happens if the NBA does continue.

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