NBA players 'really want to play' as rumors about league resuming swirl, union chief says

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It has been more than 70 days since the NBA hit pause on the 2019-20 season because of the coronavirus outbreak, and the players are ready to get back at it, said Michele Roberts, the NBA Players Association executive director.

Roberts told ESPN on Tuesday that players “really want to play,” and the league is waiting for more information about how the league plans to tip-off again.

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“It's time. It's time,” Roberts said. “It's been two-and-a-half months of 'what if?' My players need some level of certainty. I think everybody does.

“Let's just get it out there because our guys need to know. Certainty will be good. But the players really want to play.”

Roberts said players are ready to approve a proposal from the NBA for games to resume.

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“If we thought we needed a vote, we would. If we're ratifying a CBA, we need a vote,” Roberts said. “But our preferred method is talking to people or just having them talk to us. Then if we get a sense of what the sentiment is, then we can move forward. We talk to our players and figure it out.”

The Athletic reported last week that the NBA was looking at the Disney World complex in Orlando, Fla., as a potential site for games. Las Vegas has also been floated as an option.

Charles Barkley, an analyst for Turner Sports, told ESPN’s “The Paul Finebaum Show” on Monday that he was certain the league will continue with the 2019-20 season.

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“We’re gonna make a decision in the next week,” he said about the NBA returning. “I'm 100 percent sure we're going to play. I know my friends in Major League Baseball are going to play. I think that the hockey league is going to play. I think the pro football and the college football, they have to sit back and see how it goes for us."

“Do know this, talking to my bosses at Turner," he added. "We're going to play basketball. It's gonna be in Florida and Vegas, or just Florida.”

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