The NBA is working hard to resume its 2019-20 season amid the coronavirus. Many teams have reopened their facilities for socially-distanced workouts while momentum is building toward a return later this summer with Orlando emerging as the frontrunner to host games. How soon could LeBron James and the league’s other superstar talents return to our television screens? Spencer Dinwiddie of the Brooklyn Nets, who made national headlines last week for attempting to crowdsource his own free agency, may have the answer. Dinwiddie responded to a statement made by sneaker designer John Geiger, who tweeted that the NBA would resume play on June 21st. The Nets guard was quick to correct Geiger, claiming he only got it half right. That’s just practice... I heard those last 5 games at bubble site start July 15th. https://t.co/EsF3omehYQ— Spencer Dinwiddie (@SDinwiddie_25) May 21, 2020This could be another instance of Dinwiddie stirring the pot, though as the old adage goes, usually where there’s smoke, there’s fire. We’d be more apt to believe a league insider like Adrian Wojnarowski or Shams Charania (neither of whom have chimed in on a potential start date), though as a current NBA player, one would imagine the 27-year-old is fairly plugged in. Dinwiddie notes that the league, as expected, will pursue a “bubble” re-start with all teams playing in a single location. Commissioner Adam Silver recently acknowledged that if the NBA does return this summer, fans will not be in attendance. The league will obviously lose significant revenue in the absence of ticket and concession sales, but unless the NBA wants to further delay its season, playing in empty arenas appears to be their only option. Players will undoubtedly need time—at least three weeks—to get back into playing condition following the long layoff. If Dinwiddie’s report is accurate, teams would have 24 days to prepare for actual games once practices resume. It’s unclear how the COVID-interrupted 2019-20 will affect the start of next year’s campaign, though owner Mark Cuban has advocated for future seasons to begin on Christmas Day, allowing the NBA to avoid competing with the all-powerful NFL for TV ratings. LISTEN NOW on the RADIO.COM AppFollow RADIO.COM SportsTwitter | Facebook I Instagram

It appears the NHL is on the verge of clearing one hurdle on its path to returning. According to TSN’s Bob McKenzie, the NHLPA’s executive board is expected to approve the league’s 24-team playoff plan. McKenzie reports that the NHLPA’s executive board call Thursday night got “a little heated at times,” but that it is expected to have at least 18 of 31 votes in support of the plan, enough for approval. This doesn’t guarantee the NHL season will resume by any means, but it at least means the league and players are in agreement on the playoff format if they are able to return. Additional details still need to be negotiated, and no timetable for a return is expected to be announced at this time, but the crux of the plan sets up a 12-team bracket for each conference. The top four teams in each conference by points percentage -- the Bruins, Lightning, Capitals and Flyers in the East, and the Blues, Avalanche, Golden Knights and Stars in the West -- would get a first-round bye, but would play each other in a round-robin tournament to determine seeding. The remaining eight teams in each conference would play play-in series of 5 vs. 12, 6 vs. 11, 7 vs. 10 and 8 vs. 9. In the East that would mean Penguins vs. Canadiens, Hurricanes vs. Rangers, Islanders vs. Panthers, and Maple Leafs vs. Blue Jackets. The West would be Oilers vs. Blackhawks, Predators vs. Coyotes, Canucks vs. Wild, and Flames vs. Jets. The top seed from the top-four round-robin tournament would face the winner of the 8 vs. 9 series, second place would get the 7-10 winner, third place the 6-11 winner, and fourth place the 5-12 winner. The league is reportedly considering several hub cities for the playoffs, although it’s not yet clear how many host cities there will be or where they’ll be. Las Vegas is believed to be one frontrunner. There have been reports that the league may be targeting early June for players to begin returning to team facilities in small groups. That would be followed at some point by a training camp, which players have reportedly requested be three weeks long. Commissioner Gary Bettman has acknowledged that the playoffs could run into August or September, and has said the league will be flexible in terms of potentially delaying the start of the 2020-21 season as a result. Presented by:   Red River is enabling customers to transform beyond the expected. From the cloud and big data to mobility and cyber security, Red River can meet your business objectives. Click here for more.

You wish that this could be a simple exercise. Roll out the balls, bring back the players, mix in a few fans eventually, and the national pastime has returned. But nothing in a pandemic - nor baseball - nor "smoking gun" e-mails - is ever that easy. The 67-page manifesto, known as the 2020 Operations Manual, has been issued. It covers what to do during the game, at the ballpark, travel, medical practices, spring training and everything in-between. Health and safety has to be the utmost priority, so let's just take testing, which will be thorough and stringent. If there's a positive test, the player or person would be quarantined until they have 2 negative tests. There would also be contact tracing, and individuals coming in contact with the infected person would be immediately tested and get instant results. So MLB feels that a positive test doesn't necessarily mean a 14-day quarantine for the entire team. My only question would be that everyone connected to the team would be in such close proximity anyway that it seems like if there is a positive test, you pretty much would have to test everybody else. The Korean Baseball Organization (KBO), albeit a much smaller operation than MLB, says it will shut down for 3 weeks if any player tests positive. It's a daunting task, and there's lag time involved, and seemingly ever-growing circles of people and places. You can lessen risk, but you can't eradicate it. The startup basics are in. An 82-game regional schedule, 30-man rosters, 20-player taxi squads, a universal DH, and an expanded postseason that the owners have to get to if they have any hope of cutting projected losses. Baseball would also like to have things done by the end of October for a couple of reasons - 1) to avoid a possible return of the Coronavirus in late fall and 2) to keep the 2021 season in line. If there should be no postseason because of Covid-19, the owners would lose their postseason TV rights fees. The owners also want to play in as many home ballparks as possible for several reasons - the ability to salvage sponsorship revenue from in-stadium advertising and signage, major league amenities like trainers rooms, weight rooms and cameras for the players and support staff, and baseball wants to be able to televise games in multiple time zones. The players are in a tough spot. Major League Baseball earned over $10 billion in revenues last season, the 17th consecutive year that MLB has set a new record for seasonal revenue. Meanwhile, player salaries have declined in each of the last 2 seasons. Yet public sentiment rarely falls in the players' favor. Owners are making more money than ever, and players' salaries are going down. There is no game without the players, and they are the ones assuming the health risks. The players believed they had an agreement on salary - half-pay for half the games - but then the owners countered with revenue sharing. Oh yeah, THAT. Mention revenue sharing to baseball players and they'll reply salary cap. In the NFL, players receive 48 percent of revenues. In the NHL, it's exactly 50 percent. NBA players receive between 49-51 percent of the league's expected revenue. But the MLBPA has always avoided revenue sharing like the plague, and has no intention of going there with new collective bargaining negotiations on the horizon after the 2021 season. MLB has already claimed that teams will lose over $600,000 per game if they play with no fans in attendance unless players agree to cut their salaries even further. And Commissioner Rob Manfred stated that the 30 teams combined will lose $4 billion if there is no season at all. But super agent Scott Boras maintains that every club in baseball has gained at least $700 million and as much as $2 billion in equity over the last several years. The MLBPA's problem with revenue sharing is basically that you can hide revenue. Almost all MLB teams are not publicly traded entities, meaning they don't have to disclose profits, losses, revenues, etc.. Many teams have been entering partnerships that involve equity, such as getting stakes in regional sports networks, another avenue to hide revenue. What about the development of real estate - shops, restaurants, businesses - around the ballpark itself? And when MLB sold BAMtech to Disney, the players gained nothing from that transaction. So you can see why skepticism abounds when the words revenue sharing crop up. As I said before, the players are in a tough spot. Yes, they are assuming the health risk by going out to play. But look around, because the general public already has. The front line workers in our hospitals, pharmacies and supermarkets, first responders, police, firemen and EMT's, are also at health risk while being paid a lot less than baseball players. And on top of that, it certainly feels like if players don't take pay cuts now, then owners will assuredly pass along their losses over the following years, either by cutting payroll, spending less on free agency, or by playing hardball during the 2021 CBA negotiations. Seems like players will pay - one way or another.

The Nationals were hoping to debut their championship rings on Opening Day, but with so much uncertainty surrounding the upcoming 2020 MLB season—players and league execs are still piecing together a safe workaround amid COVID-19—the reigning World Series champs have instead planned a virtual ring ceremony to be held Sunday, May 24 at 7 PM ET. The ring unveiling will be broadcast live on MASN, MLB Network, Nationals.com and all the team’s social-media accounts. To give the ceremony an added layer of authenticity, socially-distanced players and coaches will attend the event in formal wear (the dress code calls for suits and white button-downs). Per team insider Brittany Ghiroli, the rings commemorating Washington’s World Series triumph (the first in franchise history) over the American League Champion Houston Astros in 2019 have already been mailed to all players, coaches and club employees and should arrive shortly. Sunday will be anticlimactic compared to what would have unfolded had the Nats been presented their hardware in front of thousands of appreciative fans at Nationals Park, but owner Mark Lerner is still eager to celebrate the club’s momentous accomplishment. “We could not be more excited to finally share our 2019 World Series Champions rings with our players, staff, and fans!” Lerner expressed in the team’s official press release. “The various elements of the ring truly capture the Washington Nationals story and the craftsmanship is unparalleled.” Lerner argues Sunday’s unveiling will actually bring fans closer to the action than ever before. “This virtual ring ceremony allows us to gather together remotely to share a moment of joy in these uncertain times,” said Lerner, whose father Ted Lerner purchased the team for $450 million back in 2006. “We’ll be bringing fans up close and personal with the team in a way that wouldn’t be possible in a typical ring ceremony.” The Nats won their title the hard way, needing a late comeback to down Milwaukee in the National League Wild Card before Howie Kendrick’s extra-innings heroics in Game 5 propelled Washington to victory over the heavily-favored Dodgers in the NLDS. The World Series was just as hard-fought with Washington dispelling the Astros in a thrilling, seven-game affair. Stephen Strasburg was named series MVP, earning his distinction on the strength of an 8 1/3-inning gem in the clinching Game 7. Washington’s long-awaited title had to have felt even sweeter after bowing out in the first round of the 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2017 postseasons. LISTEN NOW on the RADIO.COM AppFollow RADIO.COM SportsTwitter | Facebook I Instagram

Join the 790 The Ticket Street Squad at Twin Peaks in Hollywood: 440 SW 145th Avenue Hollywood. We will be handing out prizes and playing games while we get ready for the BIG GAME that starts at 6:30pm sharp!