Allow me to play Devil's advocate. Let's say one team decided to protest by refusing to play a game. I'll assume the NBA has rules similar to the NHL in that failure to show up to play a game is forfeiture of that game and therefore a loss.
So the Bucks say they are protesting and not playing a game. If the NBA (had a rule like I mentioned and) decided to enforce the no show = automatic loss rule, what would that look like? What message would that be perceived as sending?
There's only so much money to be made right now in sports, so I would say that there's no point in owners getting involved due to loss of revenue, outside of whatever collective revenue they get from the league. The games are still going to be played, just not when currently scheduled. Fans aren't in attendance, so you don't have people who have spent money to travel to see a team or hundreds of dollars on tickets. From the fan perspective, you just don't get to see the game when you were expecting it. Welcome to 2020!
I argue that the NBA had no choice but to cancel games. There is little to nothing to lose by cancelling, and a lot to lose by not cancelling. In this day of "cancel culture", not cancelling games would be a huge risk/liability.
I'm not saying they didn't have valid reasons for cancelling or that it wasn't the right thing to do, I'm just saying that cancellation is the only course they could take.
So the Bucks say they are protesting and not playing a game. If the NBA (had a rule like I mentioned and) decided to enforce the no show = automatic loss rule, what would that look like? What message would that be perceived as sending?
There's only so much money to be made right now in sports, so I would say that there's no point in owners getting involved due to loss of revenue, outside of whatever collective revenue they get from the league. The games are still going to be played, just not when currently scheduled. Fans aren't in attendance, so you don't have people who have spent money to travel to see a team or hundreds of dollars on tickets. From the fan perspective, you just don't get to see the game when you were expecting it. Welcome to 2020!
I argue that the NBA had no choice but to cancel games. There is little to nothing to lose by cancelling, and a lot to lose by not cancelling. In this day of "cancel culture", not cancelling games would be a huge risk/liability.
I'm not saying they didn't have valid reasons for cancelling or that it wasn't the right thing to do, I'm just saying that cancellation is the only course they could take.