On March 11, 2020, everything went to shit:
seconds before tip-off between the Utah Jazz and Oklahoma City Thunder, a
member of the Thunder’s medical staff sprinted onto the court and spoke to the
officials. The game was eventually postponed. The Jazz’s All-Star center, Rudy
Gobert, had tested positive for Covid-19, which prompted the league to
“suspend” its season. For many of us ‘Muricans, the NBA’s shutdown is when we undoubtedly
knew shit got real with this pandemic.
Although it was four and a half months ago, it feels like
that date was at least half a year
ago. This pandemic and our country’s subsequent unfuckingconceivably horrific
response has a way of warping our collective sense of time. So much can change
in a matter of days, and something two weeks out viscerally feels much longer
than that because so many bad turns can and have happened in such a minute time
frame. Since early March, so much has
happened in this country and I’m not even going to try to begin to talk about
that mad whirlwind because once I get going I’m not sure where I should
conceivably end.
Instead, for one of the few times since early March, I’m
going to try to focus my attention on something that isn’t related to SARS-CoV-2, the Black Lives
Matters movement, police brutality, and the death spiral of the American empire
we are witnessing in real time. Although this pandemic and the correlated
destruction resulting from American hypercapitalism is far, far, far
from over, I want to share some of my thoughts on the NBA’s 2019-2020 restart.
