It has only been a week since the Raptors last took the court but it feels like much, much longer. Certainly the all-star break didn’t feel this long even if it was. Read More
Top five Raptors games from this season — Toronto Sun
Terence Davis II is a member of the Toronto Raptors today largely based off one stunningly good opening day at the Las Vegas summer league and a quick thinking, faster reacting, even more decisive Raptors scouting staff. Read More
Raptors’ determination to sign Davis a tale worth telling — Toronto Sun
The Calgary Flames Foundation will dole out $1.15 million in donations as part of a COVID-19 community support program. Read More
COVID-19: Calgary Flames Foundation donates $1.15 million to support agencies — Calgary Sun
Adam Silver said Saturday the NBA is considering all options — best-case, worst-case and many ideas in between — as it comes to grips with this new normal.
Silver unsure about NBA’s next move but says ‘nothing is off the table’ —
Tim Reynolds APMar 21, 2020 at 10:10pm ET.
Silver unsure about NBA’s next move but says ‘nothing is off the table’ —
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver finds himself almost constantly looking at financial numbers and projections. And like the rest of a world that is dealing with the seismic effects of the coronavirus pandemic, he still isn’t sure how bad things will get.
Silver said Saturday the league is considering all options — best-case, worst-case and countless ideas in between — as it tries to come to grips with this new normal. But definitive answers on any front are in short supply.
“It’s too soon to tell what the economic impact will be,” Silver said. “We’ve been analyzing multiple scenarios on a daily, if not hourly, basis and we’ll continue to review the financial implications. Obviously, it’s not a pretty picture but everyone, regardless of what industry they work in, is in the same boat.”
Saturday marked the 10th full day of the NBA’s shutdown, a stoppage that has cost the league 75 games and counting so far, a total that will reach triple digits on Wednesday and will eventually get to 259 on April 15 — the day the regular season was supposed to end. Play isn’t going to resume by then. The financial losses will be massive and will obviously just keep growing if this season cannot resume or if next season is affected.
“Adam is obviously cautious, cautiously optimistic,” Cleveland forward Kevin Love said earlier in the week. “We don’t know what the future holds but the NBA has been through a lot, we’ve seen a lot and I think we’ll be incredibly resilient. It just might take time.”
Players who are due to get their next paycheck on April 1 will get them. Whether those players will get their April 15 check is in some question; the league can exercise a clause in the Collective Bargaining Agreement that allows it to take back 1.08% of each player’s salary for each game missed in certain times — like war, or in this case, a pandemic.
That clause has not been exercised yet since, officially anyway, no game has been canceled.
“We’re exploring all options to resume our season if and when it is safe to do so,” Silver said. “Nothing is off the table.”
Besides, there are other bridges to cross first. The NBA — which was the first major U.S. pro league to say it would play games without fans and the first league to suspend its season once All-Star center Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz tested positive — has been extremely vocal in trying to get its massive fan base to take social distancing and other preventative measures seriously.
“Our focus right now is doing all that we can to support, engage and educate the general public in response to this pandemic,” Silver said. “We are also making sure that we are prepared to resume the season if and when it becomes safe for all concerned.”
The league has asked teams for building availability dates through the end of August, an indicator that this season — if it resumes — may stretch deep into the summer.
So far, there are 14 people within the NBA community, including at least 10 players, known to have tested positive for COVID-19. Of those positive tests, seven became known publicly on Thursday, and Marcus Smart of the Boston Celtics revealed that he has the virus.
“Unfortunately, based on everything we know, significantly more positive cases in our league were inevitable,” Silver said. “So, Thursday’s results did not come as a huge surprise and just like everyone else, we’re just trying to take each day as it comes.”
For most people, the coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.
Entering Saturday, there were about 19,000 known positive cases in the U.S. and more than 250 deaths blamed on the virus. Globally, there have been nearly 300,000 cases diagnosed so far with nearly 12,000 deaths. The virus first exploded in mainland China, where the NBA has offices and about 200 employees.
What workers in China went through helped the league quickly grasp some sort of understanding of the severity. Silver made the decision to shut down the league before any public health experts advised the NBA to take that step. He even sounded the alarm publicly in mid-February at NBA All-Star weekend in Chicago — saying then it was “a major national, if not global, health crisis” that was taking place.
“We’ve learned a lot from our China office,” Silver said, noting that meetings have been of the virtual variety there for several weeks now.
Silver’s sixth full season as commissioner of the NBA started with the league getting into a major rift with China. His mentor and NBA Commissioner emeritus David Stern died two months later. Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash less than a month after that.
Now he is dealing with the biggest crisis of them all — a pandemic, affecting and threatening virtually every corner of the planet.
“It’s been a challenging season,” Silver said. “For all of us.”
One of the key requirements of being an NBA agent is spending plenty of in-person time with your clients. Of course, that’s an impossibility these days, with measures in place to try to stem the coronavirus pandemic. Self-quarantining and social distancing are the themes of the moment, so everyone needs to adapt, including in the…
Siakam’s agent Ramasar talks doing the job in age of coronavirus — Toronto Sun
Todd Ramasar said he’s talking to Pascal Siakam and the rest of his clients more frequently in lieu of being able to visit.
“Because, I think more than anything, and this is not just for athletes, you just talk about the effects on mental health. Kind of being in self-isolation,” Ramasar told Postmedia in a phone interview. “Even with family and loved ones, just having your normal routine taken away overnight, it takes its toll on anybody. So, for a lot of my guys, it’s just making sure they’re good,” he said.
Information is constantly arriving as we all go through his odd period and it’s no different for professional athletes. Ramasar says questions have been evolving as more is learned and as more time passes.
“The initial conversations were mainly business. Also their health and safety. But now that we’re a week into this, it’s more like, ‘Are you good. How can we be helpful?’” he said.
“A lot of them are staying (put), can’t go work out at their facilities. So trying to get workout equipment into their homes and talk to their teams. Just making sure that they’re not getting stir-crazy just sitting in their homes. Since there aren’t very many activities for them to do,” Ramasar said.
“There’s literally nothing. You can’t go to the movies, you can’t go shopping. You can’t go out to eat. Everything is from home base. And for these guys, where their internal clock has been on the road traveling (for 41 road outings or more) or going to a game or, you know, interacting with (team) staff and personnel. That camaraderie. And then, overnight, that’s taken away or that shifts. That’s tough,” Ramasar told Postmedia.
It’s also difficult because nobody knows what’s next, or how long it might take before training and games can resume.
“It’s tough to say, I mean I think it’s gonna be challenging the longer this plays out. Because it’s not a matter of logistics,” Ramasar said when asked to opine on when the league will be back. “I think for the NBA to return the season, say, in mid-June, it’s more of a matter that these guys are going to need at least a month to practice and find the rhythm and the chemistry again that they would have lost over that extended period of time. Because, what you don’t want to do is put these high-level athletes back on the floor without practice. To throw them out there in a high-level environment, which would be the playoffs (and potentially the end of the regular season), I think it’ll put them in harm’s way and increase the likelihood of serious injury. And that’s the challenge.”
more….
Siakam’s agent Ramasar talks doing the job in age of coronavirus — Toronto Sun
You knew it, I knew it, and even your mother knew it. Anthony Edwards is going to the draft. The projected number 1 draft pick on ESPN’s draft stock announced his decision on Friday via twitter. “Georgia will always be my home but I am ready to take my game to the next level and […]
Anthony Edwards to the Draft — Game7even Sports Blog
When the Maple Leafs skated off the ice 11 days ago — it seems more like weeks — after beating the Tampa Bay Lightning at Scotiabank Arena, none might have thought they could have just finished their final game as a member of the organization …. Read More
Salary cap issues could become greater problem for Leafs in wake of coronavirus — Toronto Sun.
For the Leafs headed for unrestricted free agency, a group that includes forwards Jason Spezza and Kyle Clifford and defencemen Tyson Barrie and Cody Ceci, that the game against Tampa concluded their respective tenures with the Leafs is a clear possibility in the wake of the pandemic.
With the future of the 2019-20 regular season up in the air — and with the status of the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs unclear — everything, as the saying goes, is on the table.
There’s no telling yet what the salary cap for the 2020-21 season will amount to once the NHL returns, whenever that may be. The $81.5-million US cap for this season was expected to rise to anywhere between $84 million and $88.2 million, based on numbers being projected at the conclusion of the general managers meetings in Florida two weeks ago.
Among the possibilities is that the cap could remain flat for next season, which could mean some trouble for the Leafs.
The Leafs have in the range of $77 million US committed to 17 players (including goalies Andersen and Jack Campbell) for ’20-21, using data from the web site capfriendly.com. Four restricted free agents with varying degrees of importance — forward Ilya Mikheyev, defenceman Travis Dermott and forwards Frederik Gauthier and Denis Malgin — are going to be looking for new contracts.
more…
Salary cap issues could become greater problem for Leafs in wake of coronavirus — Toronto Sun
Winning on the ice may be on hold at the moment for the Winnipeg Jets, but that’s not stopping them from doing so off of it. Read More
Jets players score in the clutch, donate $100K to Harvest — Winnipeg Sun.
Winning on the ice may be on hold at the moment for the Winnipeg Jets, but that’s not stopping them from doing so off of it.
While the National Hockey League hit the pause button on the 2019-20 regular season last week thanks to the coronavirus, Jets players came together to deliver a big win for Winnipeg Harvest on Friday.
A donation of $100,000 was made to the food bank, which feeds roughly 70,000 Manitobans each month.
“We know times are difficult right now,” read a tweet that was sent out by Mark Scheifele, Blake Wheeler and other players on Friday. “We know there are people in the community struggling. more…
Jets players score in the clutch, donate $100K to Harvest — Winnipeg Sun
For WNBA players competing overseas this winter, the coronavirus outbreak didn’t only interrupt their seasons – it sent them hurrying home, racing against the global pandemic that has shuttered much of an anxious world. One of them: The Sparks’ Sydney Michaels, who was based for the winter in La Seu d’Urgell, Spain. A 24-year-old guard…
Sparks’ Sydney Wiese, WNBA colleagues flock home amid coronavirus outbreak — Press Telegram
For WNBA players competing overseas this winter, the coronavirus outbreak didn’t only interrupt their seasons – it sent them hurrying home, racing against the global pandemic that has shuttered much of an anxious world.
One of them: The Sparks’ Sydney Wiese, who was based for the winter in La Seu d’Urgell, Spain. A 24-year-old guard from Phoenix, Wiese saw the outbreak hit Spain fast, and hard.
She’d only started hearing that the coronavirus outbreak was causing cancellations of schools and universities in the country on Tuesday, March 10. By the next night, her Liga Femenina league was suspended (the NBA paused play hours later).
The following morning, Wiese awoke to texts, emails and notifications: President Donald Trump had announced a travel ban from Europe. (American citizens and legal residents would be permitted to come home, but there was uncertainty about the parameters immediately after Trump announced the policy.)
“By late morning Thursday, I had a flight booked for the next day, and would be home before the ban was initiated,” Wiese wrote in an email a week later. “My club (AE Sedis Basketball) was incredibly understanding, sad for all of us that this was taking place, but health was top priority, and they supported my decision to get on home.”
On Friday, March 13, Wiese flew from Barcelona to Mexico City and then to L.A.
“As I was traveling, my town in Spain was placed on lockdown and there was talk about shutting down the Barcelona airport by the end of the weekend,” she said. “By Monday, Spain was on total lockdown and has been this entire week.”
As of Friday, March 20, Spain has logged 21,510 coronavirus cases, the second-most in Europe beside Italy. More than 1,000 people in Spain have succumbed to the disease.
“I was on my way home right on time,” said Wiese, who was met with long lines and confusion upon re-entering the United States, her experience aligning with those of many travelers who also rushed home from abroad.
more…Sparks’ Sydney Wiese, WNBA colleagues flock home amid coronavirus outbreak — Press Telegram
With so much uncertainty around when Major League Baseball’s opening day will be, the Red Sox are trying to keep its players prepared to resume with spring training, (or maybe, summer training). In a conference call Thursday, interim manager Ron Roenicke gave insight on what the team has both pitchers and position players doing to…
Here Is Red Sox’s Strategy To Get Players Ready For Postponed Season — NESN.com
With so much uncertainty around when Major League Baseball’s opening day will be, the Red Sox are trying to keep its players prepared to resume with spring training, (or maybe, summer training). In a conference call Thursday, interim manager Ron Roenicke gave insight on what the team has both pitchers and position players doing to stay prepared. According to him, the coaching staff has instructed their projected starters to simulate two innings during unofficial bullpen sessions. “So pretty good effort to throw the first inning, sit down for a little bit and then get back up and throw another 15 pitches or whatever it is,” Roenicke said, via MassLive’s Chris Smith. “And we feel like if we do that, whenever we come back depending on the time period they give us, (it will be enough). If they give us three weeks to get ready, those guys will have four starts. And if they give us four weeks to get ready, they’ll have five starts. And either one of them (three or four weeks), we feel like as long as they’re doing what they’re supposed to be doing now and getting a couple innings in, that we can ramp up and get them really close to where they need to be.” Red Sox Roster Projection: How Chris Sale News Impacts Opening Day Plan Instructions for position players aren’t as intricate, however. Coaches simply asked that group to treat it like it’s January. And while the coaching staff has returned to its normal residences, many of the players have stuck around Fort Myers. “They are showing up in waves (at the JetBlue Park complex),” Roenicke said. “The pitchers are showing up first in the morning, the guys who are in the area. And then in the afternoon, the guys who are still there, the regulars, are showing up to hit in the batting cages and stay sharp that way. Some of the pitchers really didn’t feel like they had somewhere else to go to stay in shape, whether it was another country or whether it is up north where it’s harder to work out in the cold.” The MLB is hoping to squeeze in all 162 games, which seems more and more unlikely every day. Regardless, the Red Sox hope with this down time, they’ll be ready when Opening Day does come
Read more at: https://nesn.com/2020/03/here-is-red-soxs-strategy-to-get-players-ready-for-postponed-season/
Scheduled doubleheaders might be a necessity to make up games once an MLB season delayed by the new coronavirus gets under way.
Scheduled doubleheaders could make a comeback as MLB tries to play a full season —
Pat GrahamAP Mar 19, 2020 at 10:48p ETMajor League Baseball may consider scheduling doubleheaders as it attempts to play a full 162-game schedule in 2020. Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports
Let’s play two? Colorado Rockies manager Bud Black would be down for doubleheaders.
Maybe even a couple a week.
That might be a necessity to make up games once a baseball season delayed by the new coronavirus gets under way.
“In theory, yeah, I think all of us would be up for some sort of doubleheader situation,” Black said during a conference call Thursday. “The thing that’s going to be in front of all of us is it’s going to be the same for everybody. It’s got to make sense for the clubs and the players.”
Opening Day has been pushed back from March 26 to mid-May at the earliest, and both sides are committed to playing as many games as possible.
Translation: Doubleheaders could be on the docket.
“I know that when we’re able to safely play, we’re going to have to think of creative ways to get in as many games as possible given all the time that’s going to be lost,” said Farhan Zaidi, the president of baseball operations for the San Francisco Giants. “I don’t really have any specific thoughts on that, but I know everybody’s going to be thinking through ways to do that.”
Two pitchers announced they are having Tommy John surgery and will miss the season whenever it starts: Boston ace left-hander Chris Sale and San Francisco right-hander Tyler Beede.
Major League Baseball announced minor league players shut out of spring training camps amid the novel coronavirus outbreak will receive allowances from teams through April 8, and a plan is underway to compensate those players during the postponed portion of the regular season. Minor leaguers will receive allowances of $400 per week from teams in a lump sum for the next three weeks — a significant bump from their usual spring per diems of $100-200 per week. Teams hope that will allow players to cover housing, food and other expenses through the previously scheduled end of spring training.
The Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks halted their voluntary workouts at their shared Salt River Fields complex in Arizona. This was after the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community decided to temporarily cease operations there in the wake of the pandemic.
Some of the Colorado players may travel to Denver with Coors Field open for workouts. The Mile High City sure looked a lot different than Scottsdale on Thursday as a snowstorm hit the area.
More than anything, Black wants his players to treat this time away like it’s December and the season is still in the distance.
Don’t ramp up.
Black said that when a timetable is known, the teams will be given approximately three weeks to get back in shape as part of a second spring training. That’s plenty of time for a starting pitcher to work his way into form.
“There’s no need to throw bullpens. We’re a ways away from that,” Black said.
Hit in a cage — if one’s available. Work out at their gym at home. Or play catch — with social distancing in mind.
“They get together and go to a local park, they go to a high school, they go somewhere where there’s a stretch of grass and they play catch,” Black said. “They’re not going to play closer than six feet together, right? You can play catch.
“Guys are on the down low. They’re probably not doing much baseball activity right now. There’s a sense this is going to be much longer than first anticipated by baseball.”
Seattle shuttered its facility in Peoria, Arizona. The Mariners had initially planned to keep the facility open and work with players in small, staggered groups of 10, but general manager Jerry Dipoto said most of the 40-man roster had gone home.
“As we got to the point yesterday where we pulled the plug there were about 10 or 12 guys that were actually coming down and taking advantage of the workout time,” Dipoto said. “And frankly, we were concerned with the idea of group gatherings of any sort, particularly after we got the news yesterday there was a positive test of a baseball staffer down here in Arizona with another club.”
On Wednesday, the Cincinnati Reds, whose training facility is in Goodyear, Arizona, said an employee who works year-round at the complex tested positive for COVID-19. All Reds employees who were in contact with the employee during spring training are being tested and have self-quarantined. Dipoto said no Mariners players or staff have reported showing any symptoms of coronavirus.
In Dallas, there are about five major leaguers working out at the Texas Rangers’ youth academy. It’s closed to public and has been sanitized.
At their facility in Bradenton, Florida, the Pittsburgh Pirates have a small contingent of players that work out on an informal basis, rotating in and out to make sure there’s not more than a handful at a time.
Opening Day would’ve been next week. That’s hard for Black fathom in light of what’s happening around the world.
“I miss the build-up to Opening Day. I miss what that’s all about. I love our sport. I love the people in it,” Black said. “I’m probably as practical as they come and a realist, and aware of what’s going on and that takes a precedence over our sport and our jobs.”
New York (AFP) Two members of the Los Angeles Lakers have tested positive for the new coronavirus on Thursday as the Philadelphia 76ers also confirmed that three of their players had contracted the disease. The Lakers said they tested their players because on March 10 they played the Brooklyn Nets, who had four players previously […]
Lakers and Sixers announce coronavirus positives — Asportsupdate
The Lakers said they tested their players because on March 10 they played the Brooklyn Nets, who had four players previously test positive for the virus. The Lakers said team doctors are closely monitoring the two players.
“We learned today that two Lakers players have tested positive,” said Lakers spokesperson Alison Bogli in a news release. “Both players are currently asymptomatic, in quarantine and under the care of the team’s physician.
“All players and members of the Lakers staff are being asked to continue to observe self-quarantine and shelter at home guidelines, closely monitor their health, consult with their personal physicians and maintain constant communication with the team.”
The Sixers said the positive cases were uncovered after health authorities warned that certain players, coaches and support staff may have been exposed to COVID-19.
Like the Sixers, the Lakers declined to name the players who tested positive.
The Boston Celtics and the Denver Nuggets also announced positive tests on Thursday for COVID-19.
On Wednesday, commissioner Adam Silver said NBA players should be considered “super spreaders” of the disease. His comments came amid criticism that wealthy athletes are getting tested for the virus ahead of critically ill patients in American hospitals.
The Sixers said the three individuals were in self-isolation while being monitored by medical professionals.
“Three individuals have received positive test results for COVID-19,” the Sixers said. “All other tests results are currently negative. We have reported this information to state and local health authorities as required.”
“The health of our players, staff, fans and community is paramount, and we continue to be guided by medical experts at this time,” the team said.
The view from left field 