Celtics' Jayson Tatum: No 'Perfect Scenario' for NBA to Return from Hiatus

Boston Celtics All-Star forward Jayson Tatum has been staying in shape since the NBA suspended its 2019-20 season on March 12, but he is just as uncertain about if and when the league will resume play as everybody else.

"Everybody wants us to play," Tatum told Stadium's Jeff Goodman on Wednesday. "The players, obviously, we want to play under the right circumstances. ... I don't think there's a perfect way or a perfect scenario, a perfect way, to go about it, but most people would want to go [back] to the regular season."

Tatum cited the teams lingering in the playoff picture who could benefit from finishing out the regular season. 

"I don't think that would be fair to just go right to the playoffs and teams that were playing well and fighting for that last position or last two [spots] not to get a chance," he added.

The 43-21 Celtics were one of just four teams alongside 53-12 Milwaukee, 49-14 Los Angeles Lakers and 46-18 Toronto to have clinched a postseason berth before the hiatus began.

Tatum was Boston's leading scorer with 23.6 points per game, a career-high since the Celtics took him third overall in 2017.

Lakers All-Star LeBron James also weighed in on the NBA's unprecedented situation on the Road Trippin' podcast last week (h/t Sports Illustrated's Melissa Rohlin):

"One thing you can't just do is go straight to the playoffs. Because it discredits the 60-plus games that guys had fighting for that position.

"I think maybe one and a half, two weeks of a little mini training camp, and then maybe five to 10 games to get ready for the playoffs. If we're talking about just finishing the regular season, then you don't need that much. You could do a week of training camp and then get back into it."

Marc Berman of the New York Post reported earlier this week that NBA executives are "very determined to have a champion" and don't want to leave the 2019-20 campaign unresolved.

Berman wrote:

"Though news of the coronavirus pandemic has been discouraging, NBA executives still cling to hope of arranging a one-site, fan-less, 16-team playoff and a five-to-seven-game regular-season prelude, according to multiple NBA sources.

"The playoffs could be reduced to a slew of best-of-three series across the board. A single-elimination format has been all but ruled out — only under consideration as a last resort."

An anonymous league official told Berman that "nothing is off the table" when it comes to salvaging this season.

Possible destinations to host a potential one-site playoff include Las Vegas' UNLV campus, Atlantic City, Hawaii, Louisville and Orlando.

Commissioner Adam Silver addressed the NBA's indefinite hiatus with ESPN's Rachel Nichols on March 18:

The NBA has been the American professional sports league most directly affected by COVID-19 with over a dozen confirmed cases.