A path forward: NBA, NHL and MLB tinker with restart options

While the world wrestles with the coronavirus pandemic, the three biggest U.S.-based sports leagues currently affected by the crisis are trying to figure out if, how and where games can be safely played again this year.

The NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball have some similar constraints: Public and player health are the most pressing issues and any decisions would have to come with widespread federal, state and local support. But there are also individual challenges for each league, which have unique schedules and playing arrangements that could affect logistics.

All three have discussed the possibility of essentially quarantining their players in cities for long periods to play games in a safe environment.

Dr. Patrick Mularoni, who is the medical director of sports medicine at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, says it's possible, at least on paper.

“You’d have to completely isolate the players, staff, coaches, medical staff and likely food-service workers until 14 days. They’d all have to be willing to do that,” Mularoni said. "And the logistics of having that number of people not make a mistake is the difficulty there. But once you do that, if they are all together and working together, once they’re together, you should be fine because essentially what you created is an oasis where people who have proven that they do not have COVID can be.”

A Q&A prepared by some of AP's beat writers on where leagues are with their plans:

NBA

Q: If safe, how would play resume and when?

The NBA is looking at countless restart options, but a consistent theme throughout them calls for a training camp of at least two weeks for teams to get back into some sort of basketball shape. It would seem likely that teams would be quarantined at that time. No decision has...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/A-path-forward-NBA-NHL-and-MLB-tinker-with-15187895.php