“I think what they’re doing is waiting to see what happens in certain states and if we’re going to be able to play,” Fertitta said.

“Making sure the virus continues to go in the right direction in the next few weeks. And if things are going in the way that it’s going, I think the NBA, the commissioner Adam Silver, who has done an unbelievable job through this, and the 30 owners will make the decision to try to start the season up again.”

Trump asked explicitly whether the season would finish: “Will you finish the season or not?”

“I think that there’s talk about finishing the season playing X number of games,” Fertitta said. “The players need to play to get paid, and right now they’re taking a 25 per cent pay cut. They own 50 per cent of our revenue, unlike the other sports. And so they want that revenue, even if it’s not the people-in-the-stands revenue, so they can get paid.”

Trump then followed up with whether the NBA would go straight to the play-offs, which Fertitta dismissed.

“I think that we would play some games just to get it going again and create interest and then go right into the play-offs,” he said. “But I think it’ll be great for America. We’re all missing sports and everybody wants to see these great NBA teams.”

Elsewhere, some owners have already decided to allow their players to return to training.

With the opening of their training facilities on Monday, the Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets took the number of NBA teams holding voluntary sessions to 17 of the 30 in the league, according to The New York Times.

The other teams are the Cleveland Cavaliers, Portland Trail Blazers, Denver Nuggets, Memphis Grizzlies, Miami Heat, Orlando Magic, Milwaukee Bucks, Toronto Raptors, Atlanta Hawks, Indiana Pacers, Utah Jazz, Sacramento Kings, Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers, Houston Rockets and New Orleans Pelicans.

If the NBA calls off the regular season and goes straight to the play-offs with the current standings, then 13 of the 16 teams in the play-offs have resumed training.

Those that have not are the Brooklyn Nets, Dallas Mavericks and Philadelphia 76ers.

The other teams yet to resume training are the Charlotte Hornets, Chicago Bulls, New York Knicks, Detroit Pistons, Atlanta Hawks, San Antonio Spurs, Phoenix Suns, Minnesota Timberwolves, Golden State Warriors and Washington Wizards.

The NBA has been suspended since March 11, with the teams at least 63 games into their 82-game regular season. Some had played 66.

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James has said he hopes to see the league resume “sooner rather than later” as long as health could be guaranteed.

“Definitely not giving up on the season,” he told the “WRTS: After Party” show in an episode released on Monday.

01:40

“Not only myself and my teammates, the Lakers organisation, we want to play. There’s a lot of players that want to play. And obviously, we don’t ever want to jeopardise the health of any of our players or any of the players’ families and so on and so on. This is a pandemic that we have no idea [about]. We can’t control it.”

Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens echoed James’ desire to return.

“In an ideal world, I don’t think there’s any question, everybody associated with all these teams, especially with all of us that are in play-offs, we want to play,” Stevens told Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari on his “Coffee with Cal” show.

01:55

However, former Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy warned against a restart on The Sean Salisbury Show on US radio.

“These are going to be really hard questions to answer, before you restart. And so for Adam Silver, I think he’s done everything right. I think he’s been cautious, but I think everybody wants their money; the league, the networks, the teams and the players. So I think they’re going to try to restart, I’m just not sure how pragmatic that is.”

Cleveland Cavaliers forward Larry Nance Jnr, who has Crohn’s Disease, pleaded for understanding from the NBA for those with pre-existing health conditions.

“I would hope there would be an understanding if someone didn’t feel comfortable coming back that’d you get a pass,” Nance told ESPN. “Just because you may look like the picture of health, some people have issues you can’t see.”