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NBA Commissioner Adam Silver says no decision on season return until May: 'We're looking at every possibility'

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The 2019-20 NBA season remains in doubt amid the global coronavirus pandemic, with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver saying the league is "looking at every possibility" to proceed.

In an interview with TNT's Ernie Johnson on #NBATogether, Silver said while the NBA has been working towards a variety of different solutions to resume the season, no decision is likely to come till May. 

MORE: Latest news and updates on suspended NBA season

“It’s hard to imagine that three-plus weeks later, we wouldn’t have a better understanding of what’s going on,” Silver said. “The fact is one sitting here today, I know less, in a way, than I did then.

"We should just accept, at least for the month of April, we won't be in a position to make any decisions."

The NBA suspended play indefinitely on March 11 following Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert's positive test for  COVID-19, with several other players also testing positive in the following days, including fellow Jazz player Donovan Mitchell, Detroit Pistons big man Christian Wood and Brooklyn Nets' Kevin Durant.

Silver added that "in a perfect world," the NBA would finish the regular season and commence the playoffs as scheduled, however with the developing pandemic, a clear decision is likely to still take weeks.  

“Essentially, what I’ve told my folks over the last week is that we just should just accept that, at least for the month of April, we won’t be in a position to make any decisions,” Silver continued. “And I don’t think that necessarily means on May 1 we will be.”

The NBA has been discussing "many different scenarios," from playing games at practice facilities with no fans, to bringing the games to a single city like Las Vegas. While the pandemic will alter the course of the current season, there are concerns that the delayed season will no doubt affect the 2020-21 campaign as well.  

"There does come a point at which we would start impacting next season as well," Silver added. "Of course, player safety and the health of everyone in the NBA family has to come first."  

Despite the obvious hurdles in resuming the season, with all major professional sports leagues in the same boat, Silver is confident the league will explore every avenue to bring basketball back in a safe environment. 

“We miss it badly,” Silver continued.

“To all the families watching this, I know the NBA is a big part of their lives. We just want to assure everybody that while we’re putting the health and safety of everyone first, we’re looking at every possibility to get our players back on the floor and to play NBA basketball again.”

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Benyam Kidane is a senior NBA editor for The Sporting News.