NBA players polled about return; stars want to resume

[May 13, 2020]  The National Basketball Players Association is informally polling players to gauge where they stand on restarting the season, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported Tuesday.

NBPA regional representatives began asking players to respond to a "yes or no" question about their desire to return to the court during the coronavirus pandemic, sources told Wojnarowski.

Some teams were asked the question in group texts, per the report, and names of the players and their individual responses will be kept confidential.

However, in a statement to The Athletic, the NBPA said it "is not engaging in and has not authorized any formal poll of its players."

NBPA executive director Michele Roberts, executive committee members including president Chris Paul and other players held a conference call Friday with league commissioner Adam Silver to discuss various topics related to resuming play, chiefly health and finances.

Yahoo Sports' Chris Haynes reported Paul held a private conference call with superstars across the league on Tuesday, with all wanting to resume the season at some point.

A man walks past an NBA logo at an NBA exhibition in Beijing, China October 8, 2019. REUTERS/Jason Lee

Per the report, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kawhi Leonard, Stephen Curry, Damian Lillard and Russell Westbrook were all on the call, and "all parties were in agreement to take the court with proper safety measures" once that proves possible.

The NBA suspended the regular season on March 11. Silver has said that a decision about whether to resume and how to do so does not need to be made until June.

--Field Level Media

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