Mark Cuban expects fans back in NBA arenas by March or April at the latest

Dallas Mavericks majority owner Mark Cuban expressed confidence that fans will again be able to attend NBA games by March or April of next year.

Cuban appeared on SiriusXM NBA Radio and was enthusiastic when speaking to co-hosts Frank Isola and Brian Scalabrine about what the atmosphere for NBA games will be like when fans return.

“I’m a big believer in the vaccine,” said Cuban. “My personal belief is that by March, April at the latest, we’re gonna have a huge snapback where most of the people in the country are gonna have had access to it if they wanted it and many will have taken it. … I think those last couple months of the NBA season are gonna be incredible where people are just going nuts at games, fans are going to sports bars to watch games, every game becomes an event.”

The coronavirus pandemic shut down the NBA and other sports this past March, with the NBA resuming play in late July. However, that resumption took place within a bubble concept and included no fans in attendance.

While a vaccine for the highly contagious virus has become a reality, it will still be a few more months before the current safety protocols in place will be removed by the NBA.

That means that while games will be played on the home courts of NBA teams, piped-in crowd noise will remain the norm until actual people return.

Cuban’s courtside presence while enthusiastically rooting for his Mavericks teams has become a regular feature of their games over the past two decades. If his prediction about the return of NBA crowds is true, his enthusiasm will be more than matched by those fans.