LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — If and when the NBA season resumes, could basketball be bouncing into a Las Vegas court?
"That would be, I think, massive," said Jonathan Von Tobel, host at VSiN Live and ESPN Las Vegas.
Von Tobel said if NBA teams converge in Las Vegas to pick up the season, it could mean not only a boost to the economy but a boost to morale.
"I think everybody - to get our minds off of this, to get through this would love to come to Las Vegas to watch NBA postseason action," he said. "That would be fantastic.
Fantastic, yes. But is it feasible?
For the past 15 years, Vegas has hosted NBA Summer League, bringing together the league's 30 teams, plus squads from around the world. The league already has UNLV facilities - the Thomas and Mack Center and Cox Pavillion - rented between July 5-15.
In an interview with the Associated Press, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said the league was analyzing multiple scenarios on a daily, if not hourly, basis.
"We're exploring all options to resume our season if and when it is safe to do so. Nothing is off the table," Siver said, in the AP interview.
Options could potentially include a charity game, a play-in style tournament, and playing with or without fans.
Von Tobel says, regardless of the option, Vegas would be an ideal place to pick up the season in unprecedented times.
"It would be a neutral court by all definitions. Not an NBA city, there are no teams that have operations here," he said. "It's a faux Lakers town. A lot of people from Southern California do migrate out here, so that's why you have that allegiance out here, but again? If people can't attend, then that home-court advantage doesn't really play out."
For now, it is far too early to know whether this could be a legitimate option for the NBA, but it is something to discuss.
