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Rockets' Daryl Morey 'Very Optimistic' About NBA's Return from COVID-19 Stoppage
May 20, 2020
Add Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey to the growing list of NBA personnel who believe there's a good chance the league returns to finish this season.
Appearing on The Herd with Colin Cowherd, Morey said he is "very optimistic" that play will resume at some point.
Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta and Los Angeles Clippers head coach Doc Rivers have also publicly expressed their growing hope that the 2019-20 season can be finished in some form. (Starting at the 8:50 mark.)
"We have this saying right now with our team called 'Win The Wait' and so we're trying to win the wait, meaning we believe there's going to be a season, we really do," Rivers told Turner Sports' Ernie Johnson (h/t Andrew Greif of the Los Angeles Times). "And if there is we cannot let this disruption be the reason that we don't win. We want to be fully ready if and when we get the start button."
Fertitta told CNBC's Power Lunch he sees the NBA returning "as long as the experts continue to say things are getting better in America."
That optimism likely stems from a May 12 virtual meeting led by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver that ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported left the league's board of governors "feeling increasingly positive about the league's momentum toward a resumption of play this season."
Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported that Silver told the Board of Governors on the call he hopes to have a decision about resuming the season within 2-4 weeks.
Houston had a 40-24 record, the sixth-best in the Western Conference when play was stopped March 11 because of the pandemic.