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Where MLB Missed the Ball and Let the NBA Take its Spotlight

The NBA and MLB have had different approaches to restarting the season. This week, the impasse between the MLB Players Association and Major League Baseball continued as union director Tony Clark issued a statement following a conference call:

It doesn’t seem like the MLB season will resume any time soon, if at all, this season. That’s never good news for the fans, but especially Dodger fans since they were able to add Mookie Betts and David Price to the team in hopes of winning the World Series this year. However, if the season does not start, they could lose Betts in the offseason without him ever suiting up for real in Dodger blue.

Where baseball has floundered, basketball has found an opening to thrive.

The NBA has reached an agreement to return on July 31st in Orlando. The NBA has invited 22 teams to Disney World in Orlando, where they will each play eight regular-season games to figure out final seeding before the playoffs start. All the current playoff teams have been invited, along with the Pelicans, Suns, Kings, Blazers, Spurs, and Wizards. If the 8th seed is up by four games or more at the end of the regular season, they will clinch the final playoff spot. If not, the 8th and 9th seed would have a play-in tournament where the 8th seed would only need one win, and the 9th seed would need to earn two wins to clinch the final playoff spot.

If there is a Game 7 of the NBA Finals, the season will end on October 12th, free agency will begin on October 18th, November 10th training camp, and December 1st would be opening night. This is a fluid schedule, per Shams Charania.

Not only did the NBA and NBAPA reach an agreement to resume the season, but at least one of the NBA owners, Mark Cuban, continues to pay his employees during the coronavirus pandemic. The owners, GM’s, and players trust and respect each other, and that’s one reason why.

From what it looks like, MLB owners don’t seem to care about their players or fans. If they did, they wouldn’t be proposing an additional salary cut… they would focus on resuming the season. The MLBPA has stated clearly that they will not negotiate any more salary concessions.

Other sports owners, GMs, and team Presidents should learn from the NBA’s actions and leadership they have shown throughout this year of many challenges. Coronavirus. Continued police brutality. Systemic racism. NBA teams and owners have released statements on the recent events that have taken place about the protests and the murder of George Floyd. This doesn’t mean other sports teams and owners haven’t; however, the NBA is the only one that has remained consistent for years.

When pitting NBA commissioner Adam Silver against MLB commish Rob Manfred in a likeability competition, there would be no contest. Silver would take it in a landslide.

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