COVID-19 Crisis Brings Opportunity to NBA's Fringe Class

LAS VEGAS — Nobody expects their NBA comeback to spring from a pandemic that's created a desperate need for replacement players. But as the league continues to navigate a full-on crisis, it's opening up opportunities for familiar names who have been looking for any avenue to prove they're still NBA players.

"This isn't how I envisioned it," said veteran big man Greg Monroe, the No. 7 overall pick in the 2010 draft, who has been out of the league since 2019.

Monroe is currently playing for the Capital City Go-Go, the G League affiliate of the Washington Wizards, at the NBA's annual G League Winter Showcase. By the time you read this, he may well be on an NBA roster.

Just on the Denver Nuggets' G League affiliate alone, two NBA household names and another former college star and lottery pick have gotten call-ups in the past week. 

After scoring 42 points in a game last week for the Grand Rapids Gold, Isaiah Thomas scored a contract with the Los Angeles Lakers, who have been missing numerous key players in recent days. Thomas, who is enormously popular among fans and fellow players, scored 19 points in his Lakers debut, becoming a rare feel-good story during a stretch for the league that's been anything but.

Since the start of the showcase, two of Thomas' Grand Rapids teammates have gotten the same call. On Monday, former Michigan star and journeyman NBA guard Nik Stauskas signed with the Toronto Raptors; the following day, Lance Stephenson signed a deal with the Atlanta Hawks.

This has two fellow Grand Rapids players, Mario Chalmers and Shabazz Muhammad, wondering if they could be next. Both players joined the Gold this past week before the showcase began after putting out feelers to teams hoping for a shot.

"I was looking for any opportunities just to be seen," Chalmers said. "I made the decision that I didn't want to play overseas again. Playing overseas the last three years and being away from my family and not getting all the money that I deserved, it was difficult times."

Photo by David Becker/NBAE via Getty Images

For Muhammad, it was pure convenience and coincidence that he got the invite to the showcase. The 2013 lottery pick hasn't played in the NBA since 2018 and last played professionally in China in 2019, right before the pandemic started. For the past year, he's been living in Las Vegas and rehabbing a torn ACL. Being local, in shape and hungry for an opportunity to prove himself made him a logical choice for a showcase invite.

The two games he's played so far for the Gold, in which he's come off the bench to average six points, four rebounds, one assist and one steal in 17 minutes per game, are the first competitive organized basketball games he's played in over a year. And with the way the NBA's last two weeks have gone, he may go straight from that to a roster call-up and real rotation minutes as the NBA works to get these games off.

For now, he's just focused on putting himself back on teams' radars after his long layoff, regardless of if the call comes.

"​​I'm using my experience to push these younger guys," Muhammad said. "That's what I'm looking to do, just be a role player and do whatever the team needs me to do. Hopefully, I'll get my shot again."

Seemingly every hour over the past two weeks, another player has entered into the COVID-19 protocols as the Omicron variant sweeps the country and the world enters the third year of this pandemic. A handful of games have been postponed, but NBA Commissioner Adam Silver told Malika Andrews of ESPN on Tuesday that the league has no desire to pause the season. 

That comes two days after the league office and players' union agreed to new rules requiring teams to sign replacements to reach the minimum amount of available players.

And so the showcase, which in non-pandemic times was a place for league personnel to gather, gossip about trade talks and scout G League prospects (think Summer League without the fans), has become the main source of talent as teams attempt to hold their seasons together.

For some young players, they're getting their shot. But it's also provided a few veterans with a way back in.

With NBA teams being required to field at least eight players, and the wave of positive tests showing no sign of stopping any time soon, it's not hard to see one of these familiar names being the next Thomas or 15-year veteran forward CJ Miles, another recent G League call-up with the Boston Celtics.

"I would love to be the next guy," Monroe said. "That's why I'm here. That's what this is for. I think this is actually good for both sides. Some vets coming back to the G League and playing with these younger guys who are trying to give themselves a shot. I think it's a win-win for everybody."

Chalmers, the starting point guard on the Miami Heat teams with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh that made four straight Finals and won two championships in 2012 and 2013, hasn't played in the NBA in four seasons. He missed the entire 2016-17 season recovering from a torn Achilles, then played 66 games with the Memphis Grizzlies in 2017-18 before spending the next three seasons in Italy, Greece and Puerto Rico. At 35, he's not ready for his NBA career to be over.

"I want to show that I can still play," Chalmers said. "I've still got a lot to offer a team. I'm a proven winner."

Like the rest of the world, the NBA is figuring out on the fly how to navigate COVID-19. For these veterans, the all-encompassing uncertainty could lead to a new window of opportunity and a new lease on life in the league.

"We've been dealing with the pandemic for two years now," Monroe said. "The NBA is affected just like everyone else in the world. Guys are getting an opportunity to get back in. I think it's great. It's not normal circumstances, but that's what we've got."

Sean Highkin covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. He is a graduate of the University of Oregon and lives in Portland. His work has been honored by the Pro Basketball Writers’ Association. Follow him on Twitter, Instagram and in the B/R App.