Sacramento Kings: What If Basketball Returns On June 1st?

We are all wondering when NBA and Sacramento Kings basketball will return. On Monday, a prominent NBA figure gave a public prediction on the game’s return.

The last two weeks have been a whirlwind for the Sacramento Kings, going from the thick of a playoff race to not knowing whether there will even be a finish to the regular season. There has been plenty of speculation about when daily operations will resume, and the fact of the matter is we just don’t know.

But a quote from a prominent NBA figure on Monday shed a tiny bit of light on a possible return for our beloved game.

In an interview with Dallas radio station WFAA, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban opened up about his thoughts and knowledge on when he thinks the NBA might return:

"“Hopefully by the middle of May, we’re starting to get back to normal and the NBA is playing games,” Cuban said. “Maybe not with fans, but we’re playing it because sports plays such an important role. You know, people want something to cheer for, people want something to rally around, people want something to be excited about.”"

While we certainly are not going to hang our hopes on one person saying “probably”, but Cuban is very connected to the NBA’s inner workings and likely has daily contact with other owners and league personnel. His word and speculations undoubtedly hold more weight than any talking head pundit on one of the 24-hour news networks. Cuban then doubles down on his prediction:

"…if I had to guess based off the people I’ve talked to at the CDC and other places — I would say that the over under would be June 1, and I’m taking the under.”More from A Royal Pain3 Ways Chris Duarte improves the Kings chances in 2023-245 Players the Sacramento Kings never should have signedBleacher Report crazily lists Kings’ All-Star as “most overrated NBA player”Kings and Heat fans clash on Twitter to debate All-Star playersSacramento Kings’ Chris Duarte playing in 2023 FIBA World Cup"

If Cuban’s predictions do indeed hold up to be true, what would that mean for our Kings? Obviously it all depends on what capacity the NBA comes back in. Will there be a regular season to be played? Will there be a play-in tournament? Does the league take the standings as they are and begin the playoffs immediately?

Should the resume, it would likely be shortened from the 18 games that are currently left on the schedule. For Sacramento, making up 3.5 games in less than 18 is going to be difficult. Barring a medical miracle for our country, we can pretty much kiss the Kings playoff hopes goodbye at this point.

If the NBA is able to put together some kind of play-in tournament, then all bets are off of the table. Who knows which teams are going to come back healthy and which ones are going to be rusty. When all is said and done, this might be the fairest way to go about continuing the regular season.

While we certainly hope that Cuban’s comments hold true, we shouldn’t count all of our chickens just yet. The situations surrounding the entire world with the COVID-19 illness has made for uncertainty not only across the sports landscape, but the landscape of the entire planet. It is an unseen and unprecedented time for all of us, and the situation is fluid from day to day.

The truth is, no one really knows what is going to happen in the coming weeks. Mark Cuban doesn’t know. The President of the United States certainly has no idea. All we really know is that when basketball does return, we’ll be ready to welcome the games with open arms.