NBA must answer six questions after suspending season

With the NBA’s immediate future uncertain following Wednesday’s announcement the league would put the rest of the season on hold, The Post’s Brian Lewis breaks down the most pressing questions:

Q: What happens to those fans who have tickets for suspended games?

A: The Magic announced, “[T]ickets already purchased for a postponed game will be honored when the game is rescheduled. If games are not played or played in an empty arena, fans will have the option to receive a credit for a future game or a refund.”

Now, decisions made by Magic ownership aren’t necessarily going to be binding for, say, the Knicks’ Jim Dolan or the Nets’ Joe Tsai. But at least there is some precedent.

Q: Will players, coaches and other team and league employees still get paid during the hiatus?

A: While other support staff members’ employment situations vary from situation to situation, players are paid via game checks. No games, no checks. Or, as Portland’s CJ McCollum tweeted, “No games no pay … hope everybody saved properly.”

Q: How will this affect the salary cap next season due to loss of income?

A: The numbers aren’t clear and won’t be for a while, but the cap is a set slice of the pie, and when the pie gets smaller — like when money flowing from China decreased in the wake of Houston GM Daryl Morey’s tweet — the slices shrink, too.

Q: Because Rudy Gobert reportedly tested positive, will every player/coach from every recent Jazz opponent need to be tested?

A: That seems to be the case. While the Thunder never tipped off against the Jazz, the Utah players and coaches were still sitting in the locker room in a circle with masks on their faces waiting for coronavirus tests three hours later, according to ESPN. They’ll have to coordinate with Oklahoma and Salt Lake City public health organizations before they can return to Utah. Until then, they’re quarantined in Oklahoma.

The Knicks, Cavaliers, Celtics, Pistons and Raptors all played the Jazz in the last 10 days and have been told to self-quarantine. But what’s insidious about the virus is that those teams have played other teams, potentially spreading it. The Knicks and Pistons played Wednesday, and a jet the Jazz flew in has been used by Orlando and Memphis.

Q: Mark Cuban suggested on ESPN that the Mavericks will enact a plan (a payment plan, presumably) for those workers who are paid on an hourly basis. Is that the expectation around the league?

A: That’s clearly a case-by-case scenario. While some have suggested that players help defray some of that cost, they’ll miss game checks, and the billionaires who pay them are higher up the food chain anyway. At least Cuban is self-aware enough to grasp it’s his job to pay his employees.

“It’s not about the team; it’s just about the country and life in general,” Cuban said. “I mean, we’ve got the pieces in place. I’m concerned about — now that we’re not playing games — what about all the people who work here on an hourly basis. We’ll put together a program for them. But there’s just so many things that go through your head, it’s hard to know exactly what’s right.”

Q: So does this mean the season is done?

A: Not quite. There is a feeling within the league that play may resume eventually. And just because the games are suspended, it doesn’t mean everything has ground to a halt.

“Games are suspended, team activities are not,” Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. “I absolutely believe we will have more information tomorrow, and we may be able to share some of it perhaps Friday.”