NEW YORK — If it was too late to save a full 82-game NBA season, the deputy commissioner of the NBA would have said so.
Instead, he pulled a page from his boss’s playbook and gave an answer that was open to interpretation.
“Whether or not an 82-game schedule is possible is unclear to me,” Silver said Thursday following the conclusion of the two-day NBA Board of Governors meetings.
Silver was the only one speaking on behalf of the owners after commissioner David Stern was sent home under doctor’s orders because he is suffering from the flu. He will not be attending the collective bargaining session scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. EDT, but Silver said Stern would remain an active participant via his Blackberry.
Thus far, the NBA has only canceled the first two weeks of the regular season, which was due to begin Nov. 1. But more cancellations (or postponements, to use a less definitive term) are a virtual certainty with the sides sill unable to reach agreement on a new labor deal.
But, for argument’s sake, let’s imagine they make a deal this coming weekend, on Sunday night. That would be Oct. 23.
If it took 10 days to put the agreement in writing, that takes us to Nov. 2. If the league wanted to allot 17 days for free agent signings, training camps and exhibition games, that would allow us to target Nov. 20 as opening night.
And by Nov. 20, most teams will have missed nine or 10 games apiece. It would take some magic from NBA scheduling wizard Matt Winick to reschedule each of those games for each of the league’s 30 teams, but Matt Winick happens to be the smartest person at the entire NBA and could make it happen — especially if the league decided to postpone the start of the postseason and push the end of the regular season back 10 days to April 28.
If that happened, the NBA champion would be determined in late June instead of mid-June.
In other Board of Governors news:
_ Glen Taylor of the Minnesota Timberwolves was re-elected for an additional year as president of the Board of Governors.
_Mikhail Prokhorov briefed the owners on the progress of the construction of the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, which is on schedule and should be completed in time for the Nets’ scheduled move from New Jersey in 2012.
_ Jim Dolan briefed the owners on the extensive renovations to Madison Square Garden.
_Josh Harris, the new owner of the Philadelphia 76ers, was introduced to the other owners. No word yet on whatever hazing rituals took place.
_NBA vice president Joel Litvin gave a briefing on the status of arena development projects in Sacramento. The Kings plan to relocate to Anaheim, Calif. for the 2012-13 season if a new arena deal is not in place by the end of the season.
Slightly off topic: The big issues get all the discussion, but any idea where the sides are on none-and-done vs one-and-done vs two-and-done? Guess as to that outcome?
Thanks.
So… is Stern ceding the spotlight to his protege or setting himself up for an attempted Willis Reed moment?
(On the other hand, 69yo man with the flu is um… nothing to sneeze at… get some rest)