Report: NBA, Players Expected 'To Find Common Ground' to Resume 2020 Season

The NBA and its players are reportedly expected to "find common ground" and resume the 2019-20 season next month despite concerns of some players that playing will distract from ongoing pushes for racial equality after the death of George Floyd.

Mark Medina and Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today reported "most" players will continue to support a return, provided LeBron James is on board with playing. 

"As we work through these issues, I can understand how some players may feel that it's not for them," NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Monday on ESPN's The Return of Sports. "Not surprisingly, there's not a uniform view among those players. My sense is we're going to be able to work through most of those issues over the next few weeks."      

NBA players held a conference call last week in which several, most notably NBPA vice president Kyrie Irving, expressed reservations about the NBA's scheduled return in Orlando.

"I don't support going into Orlando," Irving said on the call, per Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium. "I'm not with the systematic racism and the bulls--t. … Something smells a little fishy. Whether we want to admit it or not, we are targeted as black men every day we wake up."

Lakers center Dwight Howard was among the players who agreed with Irving, releasing a statement to CNN saying basketball will "only be a distraction" from the social justice matters of the moment.

Protests over police brutality and racism against black people have been ongoing for weeks across the United States after the death of Floyd in police custody. Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin has been charged with second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter after kneeling on Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes. Two pathologists have ruled Floyd's death a homicide.

Some players, including James, reportedly believe returning to play and using their national platform will be the best way to help continue to evolve the conversation.