Celtics' Brown: Players believe NBA would jump straight into playoffs

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The sense that Boston Celtics wing Jaylen Brown has gotten from his fellow players is that the NBA will not attempt to play out its remaining regular schedule. Instead, if the season does resume, Brown says players have come to terms with the likelihood that the league continues straight into the playoffs.

"I think that is kind of, like, understood already, in a sense," Brown said on CNN Wednesday, as transcribed by the Boston Globe's Adam Himmelsbach. "I don't want to jump the gun. But I think the playoffs is what makes the league most of its money, and I think if we all agree to come back and play in the playoffs, I think it can regenerate (the income) so that we'll be able to have a pretty solid salary cap going into next year. So the playoffs are what's important."

Brown, who was elected as a vice president of the National Basketball Players Association in 2019, added that players are intent on returning to action this season as long as precautions are taken.

"All of us want to play. I think everything leads to the players wanting to proceed to play," the 23-year-old told CNN. "We just want to make sure that it's safe. And as the NBA and as a brand, we want to make sure that we're on par with the science and the research that's being done."

The NBA has been on indefinite hiatus since Utah Jazz All-Star Rudy Gobert became the first of a handful of players to test positive for COVID-19 on March 11.