The Head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci says the NBA's strategy of resuming play will be "quite successful." Fauci spoke about the league's plan in an interview with The Stadium.

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“I actually have looked at that plan and it is really quite creative,” Fauci said. “What they are really trying to do, and I think they might very well be quite successful with it, is to create a situation where it is as safe as it possibly could be for the players by creating this bubble — essentially testing everybody, make sure that you start with a baseline of everybody being negative and trying to make sure there is no influx into that cohort of individuals and do a tournament-type play.”

“They really wanted to make sure that the safety of the players, and the people associated with the players, was paramount,” Fauci said.

The NBA is planning to return on July 30, with 22 teams competing in Orlando Florida. Games will take place entirely in the Wide World of Sports Complex.

“For the people who are thirsting for basketball, who love basketball, the way I do, it’s something that I think is a sound plan,” Fauci said.

Los Angeles Clippers guard Patrick Beverley expects the NBA will return in July regardless of what anyone not named LeBron James has to say. 

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"Hoopers say what y’all want. If @KingJames said he hooping. We all hooping. Not Personal only BUSINESS?????? ?? #StayWoke ✊?✊?✊?," he wrote on Twitter, Sunday.

The NBA is set to return on July 30 in Orlando, Florida 22 teams; however, many players have voiced their disapproval of the league returning so soon. Kyrie Irving, in particular, has been a prominent voice in opposition to the return time-frame. “I don’t support going into Orlando. I’m not with the systematic racism and the bullshit. Something smells a little fishy," Irving told The Athletic, this week.

On the other hand, LeBron James is among the players who reportedly disagree with Irving. The thinking here is that the players could use their earnings to donate to the Black Lives Matter movement. 

Houston Rocket guard Austin Rivers explained this point view, Saturday, saying "Us coming back would put money in all of our (NBA players) pockets. With this money, you could help out even more people and continue to give more importantly your time and energy towards the BLM movement. Which I'm 100% on board with. Because change needs to happen and injustice has been going on too long."

LeBron James has matured as a player before our very eyes. When he started out in 2003, he was coming straight out of high school and it remained to be seen if he would live up the high expectations that were thrust upon him. Of course, that’s exactly what he did as he won countless MVPs and even three NBA championships. 

We have also come to know James as a father and today, his middle child Bryce turned 13 years old. In light of this big milestone, James took to Instagram where he wished his son a happy birthday.

Per LeBron:

“Man o man!!!! Happy Bday to my guy guy Bryce Maximus James!!! Thirteen though?!?!?! Where is the time going! You’re one of a kind young man and I’m proud to watch your continue to grow every day and I’m also proud to be your dad!! You make the whole house laugh daily by just simply being YOU!! Always know YOU is good enough and more my son. Enjoy your day as we celebrate it together as what we call the #JamesGang? way!”

Bryce has proven himself to be quite the basketball player in his youth, just like his brother Bronny. Perhaps in the future, we could see the two on the same team. Whether it be in high school, college, or the NBA.

If you're an NBA fan, the last three months have been incredibly stressful. The league has yet to return to action although they plan on doing so as of July 30th. While there seem to be some players who are against the return, there are still plenty of stars who want to get back out on the court and compete for a championship. In order to do so, the players will need to be vigorously tested in order to prevent widespread cases of the Coronavirus.

For the last few weeks, teams have been told to hold off on testing but now, it seems like they have been given the green light to test as often as possible. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the league has told teams that they can test asymptomatic staff members and players which is huge news since many teams will be traveling to Florida later this month.

Kyrie Irving is sparking a massive debate all across the NBA thanks to his stance on whether or not players should return to the court next month. Irving believes that the social justice movements across the country are too important right now and that it would be better for players to focus their attention on that. He feels as though basketball is too much of a distraction and that it would ultimately divert people away from all of the progress that is being made.

Danny Green of the Los Angeles Lakers seems to disagree with Kyrie. While speaking to Mark Medina of USA Today, Green said that it is possible for players to speak on social issues while also focusing their attention on playing games. Green personally feels as though it would be more powerful if players were to protest while playing as it would make use of the massive platform the NBA creates.

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“The biggest thing is to continue to move forward,” Green said. “When we do go to Orlando, the media outlets and playing on that stage if you use it wisely the right way you can push forward and can continue the movement even in a better forum.”

It seems as though the players are divided right now with 60 percent wanting to play and the other 40 percent urging against it. Over the coming weeks, we could see a real rift as the start date of July 30th approaches.

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San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich says Roger Goodell and the NFL owners are hypocrites for their handling of Colin Kaepernick and social justice. 

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Speaking with Maureen Dowd of the New York Times, Popovich sides with the NFL players who kneeled during the National Anthem: “A smart man is running the NFL and he didn’t understand the difference between the flag and what makes the country great—all the people who fought to allow Kaepernick to have the right to kneel for justice. The flag is irrelevant,” he said. “It’s just a symbol that people glom onto for political reasons, just like Cheney back in the Iraq war.”

Regarding the NFL’s newfound support for the Black Lives Matter movement, Popovich had this to say: “It’s just hypocritical. It’s incongruent. It doesn’t make sense. People aren’t blind. Do you go to your staff and your players and talk about injustices and democracy and how to protest? I don’t get it. I think they put themselves in a position that’s untenable.”

Popovich also claimed Goodell “got intimidated when [Donald] Trump jumped on the kneeling” and that Goodell “folded.”

Last week, Popovich used the Spurs’ social media platform to speak about police brutality and the death of George Floyd.

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Houston Rockets guard Austin Rivers has responded to Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving, who says the return of the NBA would negatively affect the Black Lives Matter movement. Rivers says he doesn't see the correlation.

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"Us coming back would put money in all of our (NBA players) pockets," Rivers continued. "With this money, you could help out even more people and continue to give more importantly your time and energy towards the BLM movement. Which I'm 100% on board with. Because change needs to happen and injustice has been going on too long."

Former NBA player Stephen Jackson says the league is jumping the gun with it’s return to action in July, claiming “now ain’t the time.”

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Jackson says the return of the NBA will shift the conversation away from social justice and police reform: “I love the NBA man, that’s my family,” Jackson told fans in a video uploaded to Instagram. “But now ain’t the time to be playing basketball y’all. Now ain’t the time. Playing basketball is gonna do one thing, take all the attention off the task at hand right now and what we fighting for.”

“Everybody gonna be worried about the playoffs, they gonna have that blasting all over the TV, and nobodies gonna be talking about getting justice for all these senseless murders by these police and nobody’s gonna be focused on the task at hand,” he continued. “None of these white owners have spoken up, none of ’em are taking a stand. Yeah, they might post a video when the season start of saying what we should do, but they ain’t doing nothing.”

Current NBA player Kyrie Irving has expressed similar sentiments, telling The Athletic, “I’m not with the systematic racism and the bullshit. Something smells a little fishy.”

“I’m willing to give up everything I have [for social reform],” he added.

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If and when the NBA season comes to a close, Ja Morant will probably end up walking away with rookie of the year honors. He has been phenomenal for the Memphis Grizzlies and his talents have helped turn the Grizzlies into a playoff team. Prior to this season, Morant played college basketball for Murray State which is located in Kentucky. Morant loved his time in Murray, and now, he is trying to create some valuable social change in the area.

Recently, Morant sent a letter to a judge in Kentucky asking for a Confederate statue in downtown Murray to be removed. As Morant notes, the Confederacy was quite racist and while the statue reminds us of history, it's a history that is shrouded in hate, and ultimately, it makes many uncomfortable.

Kyrie Irving has been making headlines over the last couple of days thanks to his NBA boycott efforts. Last night, Irving hosted a Zoom call with over 200 players, calling for many to take a stand against the league. With all of the protests going on right now, Irving doesn't think it is appropriate for players to be heading back to the court. Instead, Irving believes their energy should be on trying to create social change. The Brooklyn Nets star sees the return of basketball as a distraction from what is truly important and is hoping players realize that.

Today, Austin Rivers issued a lengthy argument against what Irving is preaching. As you can see in the tweet below, Rivers believes players can play basketball while advocating for social change at the same time. Rivers also notes that not every player makes as much as Kyrie and that not playing could hurt them financially.