NBLC season canceled, but league, Lightning vow strong return
COVID-19 and ongoing health and safety concerns have prompted NBL Canada to cancel the season. But the commissioner, and the London Lightning, expect to return strong in 2021-22.
The London Lightning, four-time NBLC champs, will have to wait until 2021-22 to try to reclaim their title, which they last won in the spring of 2018. (Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).
The National Basketball League of Canada (NBL Canada) has proven doubters wrong every step of the way – and this time will be no different, Deputy Commissioner Audley Stephenson says.
“I vividly remember the calls that we wouldn’t make it past season two or season three – on and on,” he said. “After 10 years, nothing is new anymore. We have seen it all – new leagues or different things come along that required us to weather the storm. We have, and we learned something about ourselves at every stage.”
On Friday, an NBL Canada and London Lightning season on the brink finally tipped as the league canceled its 2020-21 season, the NBL Canada Board of Directors announced. Coming one week before the season’s scheduled tipoff, the move was not a surprise to anyone paying attention for the last year.
“We all know the climate we’re in right now. At the end of the day, it is about safety,” said Mark Frijia, General Manager of the London Lightning. “We would never do anything that would put the health and safety of the fans and players in question. As a league, we thought it would be better to hold off until we could have everyone there in a safe environment.”
Stephenson echoed the local sentiments.
“Everyone is well aware of what the pandemic has done to the entire world, including the sports community. There was a lot of thought and deliberation put into this before we came to this conclusion as a league,” Stephenson said. “At the same time, this is not going to last forever. There are lots of positive signs, especially readily available vaccines. Are we disappointed? Absolutely. But we just need to be a bit more patient, let things play out, and then come back strong as ever.”
The COVID-19 pandemic had thrown the league into uncertainty since the cancelation of the end of its 2019-2020 regular season and playoffs and further delaying the start of the 2020-21 season last fall. After announcing it would resume play in late December 2020, the NBL Canada Board of Directors unanimously voted to further postpone its return to March 12, 2021.
With that date fast approaching, the league found itself in a holding pattern as federal, provincial, and local officials evolved COVID-19 restrictions on gathering.
The league expected to tip off under a reduced schedule with limited fans inclusive of safety protocols, such as physical distancing and other measures focused on minimizing the risk of transmitting the virus as much as possible.
Today’s announcement, however, ends that possibility.
The league considered a number of options before canceling the season. Unlike other professional leagues with large television contracts, NBL Canada cannot feasibly afford to play in front of empty stadiums.
“We don’t have million-dollar TV contracts that make sure all our bills can be paid without any fans in the stands,” Frijia said. “We don’t have that luxury.”
There were thoughts of a bubble tournament, but that would not have guaranteed success, Stephenson said.
“Even with a bubble, there are still serious health concerns,” he explained, citing the Toronto Raptors’ recent brush with COVID-19.
After successfully navigating the first half of the NBA season, the Raptors were sent reeling this week as players Fred VanVleet, Pascal Siakam, O.G. Anunoby, Malachi Flynn, and Patrick McCaw, along with head coach Nick Nurse and most of his coaching staff, were ruled out for games due to COVID-19 protocols.
“That’s an NBA team; they can probably absorb something like that and be OK. But that would be devasting for our league if we were put in that situation with one team severely understaffed and undermanned,” Stephenson said.
With one and a half seasons now erased, the future of the league might seem a bit uncertain to outside observers. Not so, Stephenson stressed.
“We were ready to play. If we weren’t going through a pandemic, we would be ready to go. It is not so much a matter of regrouping for the next season, but taking the reins off and letting us go,” he said. “This was a milestone year for us. We are 10-years strong – that means something to us, that is important to us. We want to be able to celebrate that with our fans.”
This period will be another area of growth for a league still evolving, Stephenson stressed.
“There are things we could do better, that we want to do better, that we intend to do better. That has been part of the overall growth process of the league. The best lessons are the ones you gotta go through the hard way. We have had our share of those – and this is another one we will learn from.”
A start date and season structure for the 2021-22 regular season will be made at a later date. That said, Frijia remains in contact with Lightning players from last season and expects there to be no shortage of player interest in the league once action returns.
“All the owners, all the teams are on board and ready to go as soon as we are in a climate where we can play,” he said.
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