This is tough. The nba has positioned itself as a global leader and a company that prides itself on treating their employees right. All that goodwill and great work to build the brand could be undone if they come back and people get sick.
I get it. There is a lot of money at stake to finish this season. But is 20 games + playoffs for one year really worth the potential damage? That is a really tricky situation and NBA would be absolutely roasted if they come back and this goes sideways.
It’s like a multiplier effect since they are positioned as a player friendly and progressive league. Right or wrong, the backlash will be severe IMO because of that. It will be called fake and hypocritical and everything else under the sun.
Tough spot for Silver.
I think they should just scrap the season; it will hurt, but their brand will be intact and they will probably be viewed as THE leader in the business community. Unequivocally putting profit aside for the sake of their people. That alone may help with some of the financial losses. How much? Tough to say, but my guess is it would help.
They can survive not finishing the season long-term. Making a mistake here would be far more difficult to recover from (they would, look at all the crap the NFL does).