With the NBA leadership currently in talks over the start date for the new NBA season, league commissioner Adam Silver has delivered some good news for fans. He explained that, with the introduction of rapid COVID-19 tests, fans may be able to attend live games next in 2021.
While this goal is still widely viewed as being “unlikely” to achieve, Silver revealed that he and the NBA believe that it is a realistic ambition provided that the league invests the required time and money into developing the required safety procedures.
The NBA has already invested a considerable amount of resources into the development of testing procedures and health and safety protocols for fans and teams to follow. This, together with the fact that rapid COVID-19 tests are continuously being developed, supports Silver’s claim that it is feasible to expect to see fans attending games in person next year.
Not only does Silver believe that players and fans will be kept safe by the NBA’s health protocols, but he also believes that testing fans at games for the virus can serve a wider purpose outside of basketball. In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, Silver provided the following explanation:
“For example, if a person attending a Warriors game gets tested, there’s also a benefit to the larger community and potentially that person’s employer, both to keep them healthy and because they may be going to a workplace. It’s not necessarily a one-purpose test.”
