Opinion | Brooklyn Nets and the Covid-19 pause: injured athletes and underachieving teams get an unprecedented reset
- An extended pause midseason is going to help some athletes and hinder others
- Who benefits from the lockdown and who will fail to reclaim past form as we look to resume the sporting world?
The unprecedented pause in sports across the world because of the coronavirus pandemic has given some sports teams, such as the Brooklyn Nets, a much-needed reset.
Let us not forget March 11 when Rudy Gobert told Utah Jazz medical staff he wasn’t feeling well and was taken to hospital, kicking off an unprecedented suspension of worldwide sports the likes we haven’t seen since World War II.
On March 10, which seems like ages ago, the NBA’s Nets were in the dumps. Superstar guard Kyrie Irving had been ruled out for the season after arthroscopic surgery on his shoulder. Kevin Durant, the team’s other massive off-season signing, had been sitting on the bench as he returned from Achilles surgery.
There were reports right up until the season was suspended that Durant had been partaking in three-on-three practices, and looked like he was progressing nicely. However, a successful 2019-20 season was still a pipe dream, at best.
The Nets were 5-5 in their last 10 games before the halt, but they had won their last three outings. In all likelihood, the Nets were probably going to be the seventh or eighth seed in the Eastern Conference heading into the play-offs, which would have meant a first-round series against Giannis Antetokounmpo and the downright scary good Milwaukee Bucks, or the smothering team defence of the Toronto Raptors and emerging star Pascal Siakam.