It is no longer a question of if the NBA will postpone any games this season. Rather, it is how many will be delayed — and how will the league’s best team, the Golden State Warriors, be impacted?
COVID-19 continues to propose new challenges for the world as the NBA and Golden State Warriors search for solutions to the current surge.
Let’s start off by stating the obvious: basketball should be the least of everyone’s concerns right now. Regardless of how you feel about the highly-politicized pandemic, we should all be able to agree that on-court issues pale in comparison to the potential damage of COVID-19 and the omicron variant.
With that being said, let’s stay within the realm of basketball and discuss how the current surge of cases is impacting the NBA.
Multiple games have been postponed
As Adrian Wojnarowski and Shams Charnia fire off tweets like it’s NBA trade season, more and more players are entering health and safety protocols. So many, in fact, that multiple games have been postponed due to teams like the Brooklyn Nets and Cleveland Cavaliers not having enough active players.
A total of seven games have already been delayed. With the holidays approaching and cases rising — future postponements seem all but certain.
The NBA and Players Union have worked to establish a new set of rules for the current season. Ideas such as expanding rosters and increasing testing have been presented.
How this impacts the Warriors
Golden State has been fortunate thus far. Jordan Poole and Andrew Wiggins are the only two players in health and safety protocols right now.
Yet, their next game could be in jeopardy as the Sacramento Kings have six players currently sidelined. While the Memphis Grizzlies and Phoenix Suns have just one player in isolation, there is no telling when an outbreak could throw a wrench in the schedule.
This goes for the Warriors themselves. It does not take much for things to go sideways and result in multiple members of the team entering health and safety protocols.
Every member of the Warriors is vaccinated and could potentially receive booster shots soon. Although fully vaccinated individuals can still catch COVID-19, they are less likely to do so.
Nevertheless, the pandemic proves to be unpredictable every step of the way. Maybe the Dubs will go the entire season without a major setback — maybe the NBA will be forced into another lockdown — there is just no way to know.
What we do know is the Dubs are one of the few teams who can benefit from a little bit of stalling. Any additional time for Klay Thompson and James Wiseman to recover from their respective injuries is worthwhile.
This time off would come with a cost. The Warriors are rolling as the NBA’s top team and a pause could potentially snuff out their momentum.
The truth is, no one in the NBA really seems to know what to expect. All Golden State can do is follow protocols and hope for the best.