On Sunday, Patrick Beverley shared an insight that was probably half-joke and half-true—or at least the gist of it— which held that big-time stars will have major influence on the NBA's return. Specifically, he was addressing reported disagreements between the league and some of its players, notably Kyrie Irving, on resuming the 2019-20 season in an Orlando-based bubble.
As explained by Adrian Wojnarowski, the main contentions that have complicated the issue of bringing the season back appear to revolve around a number of factors, including health and safety concerns, finances, and the current political climate:
To Beverley's point, the Clippers' defensive stalwart stated that if LeBron James wants to play basketball then, damn it, the rest of the league is going to be playing some basketball. In his message, Beverley points out that the league is a business, which would appear to relate to reported concerns that not finishing a season will allow the league to tear up the old Collective Bargaining Agreement and lead to "a more unfavorable fiancial share of basketball-related income" for the players.
At the moment, the league still seems to be targeting a late-July return that will see 22 teams venturing to Walt Disney World to pick up where they left off in mid-March.
Note that just a few weeks ago, Beverley made it clear (via Twitter) that basketball wasn't a primary concern at the moment:
But, as he said, it's not personal it's just business.
