Report: Almost '100 percent' chance NBA resumes without fans

Windhorst said the NBA will very likely mimic the plan being used in China for
a potential end to the current hiatus, which began March 12. In China, ground
zero for the coronavirus in recent months, the plan for professional
basketball to resume includes keeping players in a centralized, isolated
location or shared hotel to limit the chance they come in contact with any
infected person.

Ideas being floated include playing all the games at a neutral site, such as
Las Vegas, the Bahamas or even a college campus in the Midwest where the
outbreak, to this point, has been mild, according to the report. The idea
would be to refit a casino or grand ballroom of a resort into made-for-TV
events.

LeBron James spoke out against the idea that NBA games would be played in
empty arenas or without fans again on Thursday.

"If LeBron James wants to play for a championship this year he is going to
have to reset his expectations," Windhorst said. "That's what China is looking
at -- clustering teams in a bubble where they can be protected. LeBron is the
voice of the rest of the league. He's speaking with emotion the way he sees
it.

"The reality is, if the NBA comes back, at least in the short term, it's going
to be in empty arenas or empty aircraft hangars where they just put down a
court. ... That's something players are going to have to start getting their
minds around."

--Field Level Media