Sacramento Kings Chairman Vivek Ranadive was on CNBC’s Power Lunch program on Monday and discussed the NBA’s plan to return to play. You can watch the full video below, but Vivek’s biggest points of emphasis were that he’s confident that the league will return as currently planned, and that players and staff will be safe in Orlando.
When questioned about the safety of the so-called bubble, especially considering Disney support staff will not be sequestered in the bubble, Vivek said he believes players will be safer in Orlando than they would be if they stayed at home and went to a grocery store. Vivek acknowledged that no plan will ever be 100% safe, but that he’s confident that the NBA has properly considering all possibilities.
With the full disclosure that I am not a medical expert, and Vivek states that the NBA has been consulting with medical experts, I take issue with the assertion that players in a bubble would be safer than at home. If a player goes to the grocery store and is exposed to coronavirus, they come home and only their immediate family circle is then exposed. If an outside staff member brings coronavirus into the NBA bubble, everyone in that bubble could be exposed. Now, we don’t know the full details of the NBA’s plan for testing and isolating anyone who is exposed (Vivek also discussed that the Kings are experimenting with a breathalyzer test for the virus), so perhaps Vivek’s belief could be accurate.
If you have a few minutes, check out the video linked above. It’s worth it for the 30 seconds a CNBC host tries to talk about Kings players “Buddy Held and DeAndre Fox”.
Some other Kings adjacent articles today:
The Athletic rates Barnes’ contract the 4th worst value among recent FA signings.
The Athletic also has an interview with Vlade about FA and what they’re trying to build. It’s almost fluff, but still any Kings related article is worth reading IMO.
The Ringer does not rank Hield among the top 5 shooters in the NBA. (Curry, Klay, Durant, Redick, Korver.)
Korver over Buddy? Maybe in Korver’s prime, but are his numbers still elite?
41.5% from three on 4.1 per game. Buddy is at 39.5% on 9.7 per game.
Eh. I agree I might not put Korver on the list. (Lillard duh-doi) But Buddy is a bit eh too. Like if the game is on the line, I’m going with Korver all other things equal.
Right now Korver is .415% on 4.1 3PA in 17MPG. Buddy is .395% on 9.7 on 32MPG. Fairly comparable
Lillard and Buddy were incredibly close in terms of 3pt shooting this year. Obviously, Lillards ability to do that with (presumedly) more pull-ups and a more varied offensive game probably make him the better overall shooter.
A lot of these things are in how you choose to parse/define the topic and how much weight you want to give volume vs efficiency. If we’re talking about 2020 (which we obviously aren’t since Durant is on the list), then Bertrans and Robinson (at least) probably have better claims than Hield to that top 5 slot. If we’re looking at present ability + long track record, then Korver deserves to be up there. If we want to confine to the past few season, then it’s probably Hield.
Side question: Does the 24-Hour Fitness bankruptcy affect Mark Mastrov and his ability to remain a part of the ownership group of the Kings?
Mastrov sold 24 hour fitness in 2005 for a reported $1.68 billion. He remained a stakeholder and chairman of the company, but I don’t think his current wealth is tied to 24 hour fitness anymore.
Ah, thanks for doing the research for my lazy self, Greg! Well, that’s good to know as a Kings fan.
This is correct.
The gym I was going to before the gym closures was 24 Hour Fitness and I had a Costco membership (2 years for only about $450). It was nice that I could ride my bike there from home. If 24 Hour goes under eventually…it means I have to find a new gym, it might be more expensive…
My brother did a deal like that. They closed the local Gym he used but would not stop taking the money because there was a location within 50 miles! Keep an eye out or check your contract, Gyms are worse than used car salesman IMO.
Yes, I’ve had to deal with ridiculous things like that before. Ugh. Like you’re going to travel 50 miles one way to the gym! 🙁
Think I agree with Vivek to an extent, but Greg’s caveat is important. Being in a bubble means being in a petri dish of sorts. Someone brings in COVID, tests negative for the first few days, infects a few people, they each infect a few during that night’s game – rinse, lather repeat.
It’s the NBA’s nightmare scenario. They’ve covered their bases, but will still need a bit of luck to pull this off.
The same pretty much goes for any place that has opened up that hosts large amounts of people. They can be as careful as can be and can take all the precautions in the world, but one infected person comes in not feeling symptoms and not wearing a mask and that’s the end of that.
LOOKS LIKE VIVEK ALREADY HAS SOME PROTOTYPE REPLACEMENTS UNDER WAY TO ENSURE THE NBA’S RETURN:
I predict Marvin Botley will break down a lot during the season.
I just hope we’re getting “FIBA” Botdan BotbotoviÄ
I contend Harrison Bots was the prototype, as he cost more than he should have.
So, assuming these are programmed Not to hurt people, how would that work? If they’d continue our losing way they’d hurt Kings fans, but if they’ll make us a contender it will hurt fans of other teams in the west.
Uh… (checks for Ranadive’s COVID-19 or epidemiological bona fides)
Disappointed he went there.
Did you watch the video? He listed by name some of the medical experts that the subcommittee he worked on consulted with. I see nothing wrong with him expressing an opinion based on advice that he got from experts.
would really like to know which companies that are currently running out of their garage vivek is investing in…
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