28. "The bubble may have unrealistically raised expectations" In response to In response to 26
I think a lot of people thought because the NBA figured out things so much better than baseball and football - both NFL and CFB - the NBA would of course have a great plan for the '20-'21 season.
But without a bubble and without a vaccine the chances of sizeable outbreaks were much more likely. And unlike baseball or football, losing 3 or 4 players at a time impacts the likelihood of cancellations because NBA rosters are so much smaller.
I'm not personally alarmed about the postponements. Given how other major sports leagues are fairing the NBA's been about average with regard to the number of postponements early in their season. (I feel for the players who have the illness. They make their money with their body and if the findings of the effects post-COVID are correct, lung damage could jeopardize careers.) I think like baseball and football, as the season continues the number of outbreaks will decrease. And the teams may potentially play an unbalanced schedule with regard to the halves of the season. Everyone may not play the 72, but outside of the chance that a team may lose out on TV money, that shouldn't be a big deal. Everyone feels there are too many regular-season games anyway and going by win PCT ought to work out fine.
Like a lot of posters have said, they don't have a practical reason to play right now. But $1B is a lot of money for just about any organization to lose out on.