Oklahoma City Thunder All-Star point guard Chris Paul, who is also the NBPA president, says players will need “at least” three or four weeks to prepare to play games again.
The NBA has been suspended since March 11 after Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19. Paul and the Thunder players were tested as well since they were exposed to Gobert and the coronavirus on March 11 in OKC.
Paul says, in the end, the players will dictate when the games can start again if and when COVID-19 dies down to where sports can resume:
“I'm just letting you know — and I don't think the league would do it anyway — but if they were like, ‘Hey, you got two weeks, and then we're going,' that's not going to happen,” Chris Paul said, via Royce Young of ESPN.
“That's not going to happen. Whatever the amount of time is, just know that players will have the input, the say-so, because we're the ones playing. That comes first. We don't ever want to put guys in a situation where their injury risk is higher than ever before.”
Most players haven't had access to training facilities or basketball goals since the league was suspended. The NBA will have to give guys ample time to work on their craft again after being away from the game for so long.
Paul is in his first season with the Thunder. Before the 2019-20 season was suspended, Paul was averaging 17.7 points, 4.9 rebounds and 6.8 assists for OKC. The 10-time All-Star was also shooting 48.9 percent from the field, 36.2 percent from beyond the arc and 90.0 percent from the free throw line.
Paul and the Thunder were in fifth place in the Western Conference standings with a solid record of 40-24. OKC actually had a better record than the Houston Rockets, who traded Paul to the Thunder for former MVP Russell Westbrook last summer.
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