National Basketball Association
Miami Heat are in the NBA Finals, with the title of the East Conference after a 4:2 series against Boston Celtics.
The Heat will face Lakers, the winner of the West Conference, for the 2020 NBA title. The first game will be Wednesday, September 30.
The Milwaukee Bucks boycotted Wednesday NBA playoff game five against Orlando Magic to protest the shooting of Jacob Blake. Blake was shot seven times by a police officer in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and is paralysed.
Bucks player George Hill told The Undefeated: "We're tired of the killings and the injustice."
Some NBA players didn't want to resume the season after Minneapolis police killed George Floyd. They decided to play, but with most players kneeling during the National Anthem and wearing Black Lives Matter T-shirts during pregame warmups.
A saliva-based Covid-19 test developed by the Yale University and funded by the National Basketball Association and the National Basketball Players Association has gotten emergency authorization by the United States Food and Drug Administration.
The new salvia test from Yale University only costs around $4, compared to $60 in the best cased for the competing salvia test that has been developed at Rutgers University lap. Both tests have been granted the same permission by the Food and Drug Administration.
With the NBA returns July 31st, fans are eagerly anticipating the return of players such as LeBron James, Luka Doncic, Stephen Curry, and many more, but Houston Rockets player Russell Westbrook posted on Twitter saying that he had tested positive for COVID-19. In the same tweet, he says that he's doing well and begs everyone to wear masks and to stay at home in quarantine because the virus is a very serious matter in the world right now.
The Athletic's Shams Charania has reported that the NBA and NBA Players Association are in talks of allowing players to replace their names on the jersey with social justice statements. After players and fans had voiced concerns that there are too many more significant things going on in the world to play basketball, the organizations are discussing how to make a statement to show the importance of these events and let players express their support.
The forward player for the Cleveland Cavaliers has announced that he has committed $500,000 through his foundation to the psychology department of the University of California, Los Angeles. In the past, he has been vocal about his own history and struggles with mental health, namely panic attacks and anxiety. The donation has been committed on Monday, a day after he received the Arthur Ashe Courage Award for his efforts in mental health.
The NBA's Board of Governors voted and approved a plan to finish the 2019-20 season at Disney World in Orlando, Florida. ESPN reports the proposal of a tournament with 22 teams had a 29-1 vote.
The league is targeting a July 31 as a start date. Each team will play eight games with a play-in tournament for the final seed in each conference before the playoffs
The plan now needs formal approval from the National Basketball Players Association before the league can move forward.
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The NBA is planning a Thursday vote of the Board of Governors -- with an expectation that owners will approve Commissioner Adam Silver’s recommendation on a format to re-start the 2019-20 season in Orlando on July 31.
Silver, who has been closely working with the National Basketball Players Association, has yet to reveal when or how a formal decision will ultimately be made.
Associated Press reports NBA Commissioner Adam Silver announced the league players will receive 25% less in paychecks starting May 15.
The decision was made in concert with the National Basketball Players Association, with the league saying it would “provide players with a more gradual salary reduction schedule” if games are officially canceled or the rest of the season is totally lost.
“I think there is a sense that we can continue to take the leading role as we learn more in coming up with an appropriate regimen and protocol for returning to business,” Silver said.
The National Basketball Association announced that it will suspend the season after a player was tested positively for the coronavirus. The suspension was made public after a player from Utah Jazz got infected.