Yahoo Lifestyle Steve Kerr says recent call with Warriors players seemed like exit meeting: 'It feels like the end of our season'
The fate of the NBA season remains in the balance amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
For Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, it feels like things are over. At least for his team.
Kerr spoke with reporters on Tuesday and said that he had a Zoom call with players recently that “felt like our annual exit meeting.”
“It feels like the end of our season,” Kerr said, per the San Francisco Chronicle’s Connor Letourneau. “We're staying in touch with our guys, but it definitely feels like the season is done for us.”
This doesn’t necessarily reflect Kerr’s feelings on the state of the entire NBA season. But for the 15-50 Warriors, what is there to play for if league play resumes?
Meaningless games in empty gyms
Kerr’s feelings point to a widespread belief that if the NBA does figure out a way to play this summer amid the COVID-19 pandemic, then the league would jump straight to the playoffs. Or possibly hold some sort of play-in tournament for teams on the playoff bubble.
Otherwise, teams like the Warriors would be faced with playing truly meaningless games in empty gyms against teams like the Atlanta Hawks and New York Knicks who also have nothing to play for. With no fans to sell tickets to or watch the games live, those matchups would amount to glorified scrimmages. And what’s the point?
Why would NBA try to finish regular season?
The only reason to continue with the regular season would be to fill out the season and get a true playoff seeding based on an 82-game schedule. Well, that and gambling. But with time being crunched as is, it amounts to the lowest of priorities when it comes to playing NBA games.
Kerr’s words on Thursday are similar to a statement he made in late March, a couple of weeks into the NBA’s hiatus.
“Look, for us, our season is basically over,” Kerr said on Howard Beck's "The Full 48" podcast, per NBC Sports Bay Area. “If the league was somehow to start up again, it's very unlikely we would be playing regular-season games given that they'd be in such a time crunch. Who knows?”
The only thing that has changed since then on the NBA front is that more time has passed, and pressure is mounting to figure things out. Kerr sounds ready to move on.
And after the terrible season Golden State had before the coronavirus took hold, who can blame him?
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