Glen Rice: NBA champs this year different in 'positive way'
MANILA, Philippines – With the extraordinary circumstances of the current NBA season amid the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, some have argued that the crowned NBA champion would need an asterisk beside their name.
Without a full 82-game regular season, fans in attendance, and the usual set-up of home and away playoff games, the experience of the eventual world champions is definitely different from all others.
But if NBA champion and three-time NBA All-Star Glen Rice is to be asked, the difference would not diminish a title's value — rather, it would add even more premium.
"I think you will see a lot of people saying something different perhaps... but people need to realize that this is different and I'm talking about in a positive way," Rice told Philippine media in a Zoom call on Thursday.
Rice says that the extraordinary circumstances surrounding an eventual champion would not only keep their title's value the same, but even add a few more positives along the way.
"When you have what's going around everyone... if you can get a champion out of everything that's going on that's real easy to distract you from basketball, I mean I think that's a huge plus for these guys," Rice said.
The 53-year-old cited many other challenges the eventual champion would have conquered that past champions would not have had to deal with.
Concerns like COVID-19, the bubble set-up, and giving time to use their platform for social justice have become additional responsibilities for players in this time.
According to Rice, the eventual champion will be on a different league.
"I think that just goes to show you how determined and how focused they were," Rice said of whoever lifts the Larry O'Brien trophy at the end of the season.
"This is something that we've never seen in sport, and to crown a champion in this kind of environment right now, I think that says a lot about the players and the coaches who go out there and do what they got to do," he said.
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