LeBron James is celebrating an NBA championship and the fact that the media declared Joe Biden the winner of the election.
James appears to be riding high.
But LeBron James just found out some bad news about what comes next for him.
LeBron James already lost one fight.
The NBA Players Association agreed to a Christmas time tipoff for the 2020-2021 season when James wanted another one month off after the COVID-delayed 2019-2020 season concluded in October.
And now the Los Angeles Lakers made it official that even when the 2020-2021 season starts there will be no fans in the stands and there is no timetable to bring them back.
“The health and safety of our fans, players, staff and community are our main priority and we will continue to work with state and local officials to come up with a plan to safely welcome fans back to Staples Center in adherence with local, State, and NBA guidelines,” the Lakers said in a statement.
“We appreciate your continued support and look forward to coming together, when it is safe to do so, to celebrate the raising of our banner and the quest for another NBA championship.”
LeBron James and other athletes turning their league into anti-Trump Political Action Committees helped drive fans away and hurt the ratings.
But the ratings also suffered because even though the teams are playing, their star players playing a game in front of an empty arena looks like a glorified exhibition game.
It is not a visually appealing product.
The players were forced to agree to a December restart because if they waited until January to resume the season the league would have forfeited hundreds of millions of dollars in TV revenue and the players would see their salaries cut.
Sports with Balls will keep you up-to-date on any new developments in this ongoing story.