NBA to resume games on July 31 despite resurge of COVID-19

The NBA announced to resume the 2019-2020 season without audiences on July 31 after a four-month suspension due to the spread of COVID-19. The NBA released Saturday its game schedule for the season including playoffs. Matches between the Utah Jazz and the New Orleans Pelicans and the Los Angeles Lakers and the Los Angeles Clippers will be held on the first day. All the remaining games will be held at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida.

Only 22 out of 30 NBA teams will participate in the games based on their possibility of advancing into the playoff. Each team will have eight matches until August 15, 88 matches in total, to confirm‎ the final ranking of the official season. Sixteen teams including top eight teams from the east and the west conferences each will start playing in the playoff from August 18.

Some voice their concerns as the risk of containing the virus is still high even though the NBA is pushing ahead with resuming games. The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association said 16 out of 302 players tested positive for the virus. The players who tested positive were isolated, but there could be more cases based on their contacts before isolation.


Jae-Yeong Yoo elegant@donga.com