LOS ANGELES Magic Johnson says if the NBA does resume this season it will be without fans and the players shouldn’t have any trouble adjusting on the fly to playing in empty stadiums. The former NBA legend and part owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team sees a glimmer of hope and said all it will take is one game for the players to adapt to not having spectators in the building. “Let’s say the NBA comes back without fans. Once you play one game without fans you will adjust to not having fans there,” Johnson told American broadcaster CNN on Thursday night. “We’ve all played our whole life on the playgrounds and pickup games without fans being there. So basketball players will adjust, trust me.” Johnson, who is also the former president of the Los Angeles Lakers, said when professional sports returns it will help the country heal amid the coronavirus epidemic, which has so far killed over 95,000 people worldwide, including 16,600 Americans and just over 500 in Canada. “We need sports, especially in a time like this. But only if everybody is safe,” Johnson told CNN. “Sports will come back, probably without the fans first.” The 60-year-old Johnson made sports health news himself in 1991, when he revealed he has HIV. He said the NBA is not going to return until the COVID-19 outbreakinthe US has stabilized and the players can be properly tested. “There will be a right time,” he said. “Commissioner Adam Silver has done wonderful job with the NBA.—APP
