December 21, 2021 is marked as the day that two professional leagues in the United States made opposing decisions. Given the rise in figures for omicron and covid infections, the hockey league (NHL) determined to close the games, being the first professional league to do so. Instead, the NBA has no plans to stop the season.
“Of course, we have looked at all the options, but frankly, we are having trouble thinking about what the logic behind a hiatus would be right now. As we look through these cases that are literally sweeping the entire country, let alone the rest of the world, I think we are finding ourselves where we knew we were going to go during the last months, and that is that this virus will not be eradicated and we will have to learn to live with it. I think that is what we are living in the league right now, “Silver said.
Until today, the NBA has entered about 103 players to the Covid-19 health and safety protocols, more than 65 of them were separated in the last week.
In terms of games, the league has postponed seven games in the last week. The most important are: Christmas and league day, despite the fact that several players from the 10 teams scheduled for that date are currently in health and safety protocols. The Boston Celtics and New York Knicks have six apiece, while the Brooklyn Nets have 10. However, Silver says the league has contingency plans in place.
“It seems to us that the correct and responsible thing, taking into account all the factors, is to continue playing,” Silver said.
Silver added that 65% of the players of the NBA have received their booster from Covid and that 97% of players are vaccinated and, while there are currently no plans to reduce crowd capacity in stadiums, Silver said the league will continue to meet local mandates. This week, the Toronto Raptors reduced their capacity by 50%, in accordance with new mandates from the province of Ontario.
Silver further added that the league continues to review its security protocols. “We are analyzing reducing the number of days that a vaccinated and asymptomatic player must go without playing.”
Players of the National Hockey League (NHL) will not compete in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics in February, as 50 games were postponed due to covid-19 issues. ESPN, the New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today and other newspapers cited anonymous sources as reporting that the league and the Players Association (union) had reached an agreement not to send talent to China.
Without the elite millionaire stars of the NHL, the national teams at the Olympics will likely resemble those at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Games, when minor leaguers and recently retired players rounded out the teams, and Russia’s Olympians captured the gold medal.
The NHL and the players union had agreed to send players to the 2022 and 2026 Winter Olympics unless league seasons were affected by postponements of Covid-19.
“The NHL and the NHLPA (players union) are actively discussing the issue of player participation in the NHL at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China and they hope to be in a position to announce a final decision in the coming days, “a league spokesman said.
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Reference-www.eleconomista.com.mx