I made a bet with Kyle last week.

I think one of the NBA, NHL, MLB, or MLS will play a game in an empty arena by June 1st. He thinks this thing will stretch on much longer than that, and the winner of the bet gets $5. This is the easiest money I’ll ever make.

June 1st was just an arbitrary date we picked, but Mavericks owner Mark Cuban seems to be going with 6/1 as well, telling Dallas TV station WFAA that he feels like that’s the over/under point for a return to action.

Speaking via Skype, Cuban said this:

“Hopefully by the middle of May, we’re starting to get back to normal and the NBA is playing games,” Cuban said. “Maybe not with fans, but we’re playing it because sports plays such an important role. You know, people want something to cheer for, people want something to rally around, people want something to be excited about.”

“I’m proud of Adam Silver,” Cuban said. “I’m proud of the NBA and the way we’ve reacted. I think we’ve led the way, and hopefully will lead the way out of this.

“I mean you know no one has perfect information right now, and so all decisions are tough. But, you know, if I had to guess based off the people I’ve talked to at the CDC and other places — I would say that the over under would be June 1, and I’m taking the under.”

The Sixers’ employee furlough is said to start on April 15th and continue through June, so if we’re reading between the lines here, it seems like they’re taking the over while Cuban takes the under, but both are kicking the can about two months down the road.

Cuban suggests that “maybe” no fans would be in the arenas to start out, which makes sense to me. If we were going to incrementally step down to address the virus, wouldn’t we incrementally step up to full normalcy? If we were headed into this thing with the idea of no media in locker rooms, no fans, and stuff like that, wouldn’t the first step be playing in empty arenas as we gradually reintroduce non-essential personnel? That’s the non-scientific hunch I have.

I also support these tweets: