Shaq: NBA should 'scrap' 2019-20 season

The NBA has yet to throw in the towel on the 2019-20 season, but Hall of Fame center Shaquille O'Neal doesn't need any further convincing to call the current campaign a wrap.

"I think we should scrap the season," O'Neal told Mike D. Sykes, II of For The Win. "Everybody go home, get healthy, come back next year. Just scrap the season. Just scrap it. To try and come back now and do a rush playoffs as a player? Any team that wins this year, there's an asterisk.

"They're not going to get the respect. What if a team that's not really in the mix of things all of a sudden wins with a new playoff format? Nobody is going to respect that. So, scrap it. Worry about the safety of the fans and the people. Come back next year."

During a conference call Friday, NBA commissioner Adam Silver reportedly tabbed Orlando and Las Vegas as potential locations for Eastern and Western conference games, respectively, should the league resume play this season.

While Silver remains hopeful of maintaining the best-of-seven playoff format for each round, he reportedly acknowledges that "tough decisions" will need to be made involving teams currently sitting outside the playoffs, possibly ending the postseason pursuit for those clubs.

Silver is said to have also informed players about the possibility of games without fans next season, which O'Neal says could affect the mindset of NBAers.

"It matters because looking at the fans starts your adrenaline," O'Neal said. "Let's just say I'm playing on the road. I need to look at that one fan that's making faces at me. I need to look at that one fan that laughs at me when I miss a free throw.

"I need to look at that one fan that's holding up the opposing sign. I also need to look at the kid that looks at his dad when I look at him and says, 'Oh my god, Shaq just looked at me.' They make us who we are."