Two months after the 2019-20 NBA season was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the status of the season remains very much up in the air.
The league is doing all it can to assure the safety of its players and staff if and when the season resumes. There still are plenty of hoops (no pun intended) to jump through, but NBA commissioner Adam Silver has actively been working with the players and Board of Governors on a solution.
Boston Celtics big man Enes Kanter was on last week's call with Silver and the National Basketball Players Association, and he shared some details from that call on the latest episode of The Enes Kanter Show.
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"We had a conversation probably over an hour. It was NBPA and NBA. I think the biggest thing, obviously, is they want to start the season. They do want to start the season. But it would be, I'm 100 percent sure, without the fans.
"The other thing, I think they are going to make the decision probably in the next like 2-4 weeks. The latest I'm thinking June 15. They're not going to pass that time because obviously they have to make a decision."
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Rumors have swirled about Toronto being a potential hub for the NBA for the next couple of months. That especially would affect Kanter, who was put on an international arrest list by the Turkish government that mostly has deterred him from traveling outside the United States. He did, however, travel to Toronto for the Celtics' Christmas matchup vs. the Raptors.
Kanter acknowledged that resuming the season outside of the U.S. was mentioned on the call with Silver and the NBPA.
"The one thing I heard from Adam, they were actually thinking about moving to another country and playing the games there," Kanter said. "If they move anywhere out of the states for like two months that would be hard, for sure.
"And then Adam was saying like, 'I think it would be too tough to just move to another country. And so, I think they'll stay in America."
Kanter goes on to mention Orlando and Las Vegas as potential locations for the NBA as well.
Also discussed on the show: What will it be like for the players to quickly ramp up to play after so much time off? What's it like for Kanter to fast for Ramadan this time of year? And who from the Celtics would he want to go against in a WWE style wrestling match?
You can listen to the new episode on YouTube or your favorite podcasting app.