Cleveland Cavaliers forward Larry Nance Jr. said it is important for the NBA to crown a champion this season amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The 2019-20 NBA campaign has been postponed since March due to the COVID-19 crisis, which has wreaked havoc globally – pushing the Olympic Games and Euro 2020 back a year.
At the time of postponement, Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Eastern Conference-leading Milwaukee Bucks (53-12) owned the best record in the league, ahead of LeBron James' Los Angeles Lakers (49-14), the Toronto Raptors (46-18) and Kawhi Leonard's Los Angeles Clippers (44-20).
It remains to be seen when, and if, the season will resume but Nance believes those players vying for a championship ring should have the chance to try to etch their names in the history books.
"We're not in position to win a championship this year, but if I was – if I was Giannis, if I was LeBron, if I was Kawhi – if I was on one of those championship-calibre teams, I'd be pretty upset about it," Nance said via a conference call on Tuesday.
"Because it's very rare in this league that a chance like this comes along, and that's taken a valuable year off someone's career."
Nance and the Cavaliers are not in the playoff picture due to their 19-46 record in the Eastern Conference.
The 27-year-old Nance was traded to the Cavs by the Lakers in 2018 to team up with James in Cleveland as the franchise reached the NBA Finals, losing to the Golden State Warriors that season.
