The NBA, could learn a thing or two from the issues the CBA has faced in its attempts at a return to normalcy.
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00:00 The Chinese Basketball Association has been an attractive outpost for American basketball
00:08 players and as the league repeatedly attempts to restart amid the coronavirus pandemic,
00:12 the rest of the world takes note of just how challenging a task that is.
00:17 I'm joined now by Alex Pruitt, the author of today's Daily Cover Story.
00:21 And Alex, you spoke to several American players who are currently playing in the CBA.
00:26 How would they characterize the league's attempts to get back to business?
00:31 One player used the word unsettling.
00:33 I guess it's, you know, the coronavirus has obviously upset everyday life and pretty much
00:38 across the world.
00:40 But you know, for these guys, some of whom are on the ground there in China still practicing
00:43 with their teams, some of whom are back here in the United States waiting for word on what
00:47 is next.
00:49 The repetitive fits and starts, the fact that they were told at one point that they were
00:53 going to start April 15th in a similar bubble scenario to what we're seeing these days being
00:57 pitched in Arizona with Major League Baseball or Las Vegas or Disney World with the NBA.
01:02 And then to have that push back to May and then to have that push back again to July,
01:07 it's made for, you know, one player used the word unsettling, but a very disruptive experience,
01:11 you know, for their careers and lives.
01:14 Now one other stark difference that I noticed from what you wrote is that tests are readily
01:17 available.
01:18 But O.J. Mayo, he's already received four coronavirus tests, several blood tests as
01:24 he's waiting for this league to get back in motion.
01:26 So China, of course, is ahead of the U.S. in terms of the trajectory of this virus.
01:31 So when you're looking at resuming a sense of normalcy, what can say the NBA learn from
01:36 the CBA's attempts here?
01:37 Well, you're right.
01:38 It's not a perfect comparison, especially when you look at just simply the government
01:43 structure over there.
01:44 The response that China had was heavily criticized at the start, but they still have the authoritarianism,
01:48 the authoritarian measures to make sure, you know, some players describe that every building
01:51 they walk into, they have to get a temperature scan and they have to show a little government
01:55 tracking app on their phone that basically calculates their health risk and color code,
01:59 depending on where they've been recently.
02:01 It's pretty hard to imagine that coming into the U.S.
02:04 Now, obviously, I think if any sports league here or maybe across the world really wants
02:09 to restart again, they're going to have, as you said, they're going to need mass testing,
02:14 the ability to test, you know, multiple times a week, if not every day, the people who are
02:18 in these bubbles.
02:20 Because as soon as, you know, one more case comes up, another Rudy Gobert incident comes
02:25 up, then it's all going to shut down again.
02:28 Lot of trial and error here as we attempt to get back to a sense of normalcy.
02:32 Alex Pruitt, thank you so much for taking the time.
02:34 Thanks.
02:34 Thanks.
02:35 Thanks.
02:35 Thanks.