NFL’s executive vice president of football operations, Troy Vincent, says the league is expecting the season to start with full attendance at stadiums.

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Vincent spoke about the upcoming season on The Team 980’s The Brian Mitchell Show. “We are planning to have full stadiums until the medical community tells us otherwise,” he said. “Now, remember when we’re talking—we’re talking about September, August, September. So there’s a lot that can happen here. So we’re planning for full stadiums.”

He goes on to say that the NFL is planning for all scenarios, just in case. “We also know that we have to plan for half stadiums. Three-quarters. So we’re planning for all of these different scenarios. But first and foremost, we’re making every effort, working with the medical community, if we can have those stadiums with all people until they tell us otherwise when that time comes, that’s our plan. That’s our plan of action.”

While the country is beginning to reopen in many states, experts suggest that the fall and winter months may see a rise in COVID-19 cases, which would coincide with the NFL season. 

The NBA, which has had its season delayed from the pandemic, is in talks to resume play in July.

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Though some skeptics were adamant things would simply blow over, the cancellation of the NBA's 2020 season was among the first indicator that the coronavirus was indeed a severe threat to normalcy. On March 11th, the National Basketball Association decided to postpone its season following news that a Utah Jazz player had been diagnosed with the coronavirus. Since then, there has been much discussion as to when, how, and where things will pick back up again. Now, a new possibility has arisen, according to the findings of The Athletic's Shams Charania.

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Apparently, the NBA has been in talks with Disney World, with the ultimate goal of resuming the season on the resort property in Orlando. It's said that Disney has already given the green light, should the NBA decided to take them up on their offer. In many ways, the partnership would be a convenient fit, given that Disney is more than well-equipped to handle the transition. Not to mention the inherently surreal element of engaging in championship games under the watchful eye of Disney denizens, even if they are only present in spirit. 

Of course, nothing has been finalized, and these reports only suggest that Disney World and the NBA have been in talks. Apparently, closing things out in Las Vegas has also been discussed, though safety has been the utmost priority for the league commissioners and a re-open Las Vegas may compromise that. Look for more news to surface on the 2020 NBA season in the imminent future. 

ESPN’s highly anticipated 10-part documentary series, “The Last Dance,” is set to debut Sunday, at 9:00 PM. 

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Fans will be able to watch the first two episodes of the series live on ESPN and the ESPN App in the U.S. It can also be streamed abroad on Netflix.

The docuseries follows Michael Jordan and the storied season of the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls. As ESPN describes, the series “unfurls some revealing details and telling anecdotes of an emotion-charged final season in which history repeated itself, with the drama, the jealousy and the infighting leading to the disintegration of the Bulls all over again.”

Check out the trailer and the full schedule of when “The Last Dance” will air below.

Sunday, April 19

9:00 PM ET | Premiere of “The Last Dance” Episode 1

10:00 PM ET | Premiere of “The Last Dance” Episode 2

Sunday, April 26

9:00 PM ET | Premiere of “The Last Dance” Episode 3

10:00 PM ET | Premiere of “The Last Dance” Episode 4

Sunday, May 3

9:00 PM ET | Premiere of “The Last Dance” Episode 5

10:00 PM ET | Premiere of “The Last Dance” Episode 6

Sunday, May 10

9:00 PM ET | Premiere of “The Last Dance” Episode 7

10:00 PM ET | Premiere of “The Last Dance” Episode 8

Sunday, May 17

9:00 PM ET | Premiere of “The Last Dance” Episode 9

10:00 PM ET | Premiere of “The Last Dance” Episode 10

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The NBA is planning a H-O-R-S-E  that will involve several "high-profile players" who will complete from separate locations, to stay in line with social distancing.

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ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski broke the story on Twitter, Saturday.

"The NBA and ESPN are working on televising a H-O-R-S-E competition involving several high-profile players, sources say," Woj wrote. "Players would shoot in isolation – presumably in home gyms – and match shots against competitors. Details are still being finalized."

As of this moment, every single NBA player in the league is at home trying to do their part to flatten the curve and beat Coronavirus, once and for all. It’s hard to think about anything other than public health right now but at the end of the day, jobs are being affected and this crisis could last quite a long time. With this in mind, there is a real possibility that the NBA could completely cancel its season.

If this were to happen, Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James could end up losing out on quite a bit of money. According to Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report, LeBron would have to give up $400,000 USD per game lost due to the canceled season. With 19 games left, he would have to fork over $7.6 million which is a whole lot of money.

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Per Bleacher Report:

“If games are canceled, the league can deduct approximately 1.1 percent for each lost contest (including about 5.6 playoff games per team). For a high-paid All-Star like LeBron James, he’d be on the hook for over $400,000 per game.

While players typically receive their final paycheck Nov. 1, months after the season ended, a select few have accelerated pay schedules, including James. By force majeure, James would need to “promptly pay the difference directly” to the Los Angeles Lakers.”

This would certainly be a worst-case scenario for everyone involved and hopefully, it never gets that far.

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Celtics head coach Brad Stevens provided the press with an update on guard Marcus Smart, Friday. Smart tested positive for the Coronavirus earlier this month.

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“Great. He’s great. Great spirits. Joking as always,” Stevens told ESPN, Friday morning on a conference call. “We had a Zoom with the team, told the team we were going to give them their own space to hang out and have fun — and he told us to get off. So he’s great.”

The Celtics were warming up to take on the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday, March 11, when the NBA announced it would be suspending the season. The Celtics had played against the Jazz, which had multiple players test positive for the virus, a week prior. Smart later tested positive for COVID-19.

“I’m just happy that when he tested positive he continued to experience no symptoms and has felt great ever since.

“We landed from Milwaukee 15 days ago now, and he’s been feeling good. I’ve checked in with him as everybody else has, very regularly. I’ve seen him on conference calls a few times, and he seems to be doing really well,” Stevens added.

There is still no timeline as to when the NBA season will return.

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Last night, the NBA decided to take drastic measures as two of its players were diagnosed with the Coronavirus. Those two players are Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell of the Utah Jazz. It was a horrible situation that led to the complete shutdown of the league for at least 30 days. For now, the entire state of the Association is in jeopardy and fans are at a loss.

As you can imagine, this decision has led to mass panic around the sports world and now, multiple leagues are following suit. Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League recently announced that their seasons would be suspended indefinitely. The NHL is in the same situation as the NBA as their playoffs were supposed to go down next month. Meanwhile, Major League Baseball is suspending Spring Training and is also delaying the start of the regular season.