NBA Kicks Off Practice at Orlando ‘Bubble’
Full-scale practices started on Thursday inside the National Basketball Association (NBA) Orlando "bubble" at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Walt Disney World Resort.
After four months, basketball got back on its feet with the Orlando Magic as the first team to formally get back on the floor, the ESPN reported.
By the end of Thursday, all 22 teams were checked into their hotels and have to be isolated from the rest of the world for at least a few weeks.
By Saturday, all teams are expected to have held at least one practice. The Los Angeles Lakers and Philadelphia 76ers were among the last eight to come in Thursday.
Lakers forward LeBron James lamented saying goodbye to his family. "Hated to leave the #JamesGang," he posted on Twitter.
Joel Embiid, 76ers forward, came to the bubble for his team's flight in what looked like a full hazmat suit. He said earlier in the week that he was "not a big fan" of restarting the NBA season in the bubble.
Brooklyn interim coach Jacque Vaughn felt good to be back. He said he thinks the conditioning after the quarantine is exciting for the league.
"Didn't go too hard after the quarantine, wanted to get guys to just run up and down a little bit and feel the ball again," Vaughn said.
Teams had to wait two days before they can start with practices. Nets guard Joe Harris said the accommodations have been pretty good for him.
Harris said the league had done a "good job" taking care of the players and providing them in every area as much as it can.
Disney Offers Relative Isolation
The NBA's multiyear contract with ESPN offered the NBA with the resort's 220-acre ESPN complex.
It has more than a dozen practice courts and some game-quality courts that will be enough to play and broadcast three games at once, said a USA Today report.
The team will play eight seeding games each starting July 30 to find out the final standings and those who will make the playoffs.
Family and guests won't be allowed to the sports complex until the end of the seeding games and first round of playoffs. That keeps possibly infected guests from entering the NBA Orlando "bubble" for more than seven weeks.
Before the players came to Orlando, the NBA required them to be tested for the coronavirus. Each player needed to quarantine in their room for more than 24 hours upon arrival and have to present two negative COVID-19 tests.
The NBA also said players and staff will be monitored daily for temperature checks, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) symptoms, and changes in heart rate. Players are not allowed to opt out of monitoring.
COVID-19 Testing a Priority for NBA
If the coronavirus finds a way into the Disney World venue and spreads within, the NBA will have no choice but to close down, Commissioner Adam Silver said Tuesday.
So far, teams did not have major delays when it comes to getting test results, the NBC Sports reported. The report, however, noted a few hiccups from time to time.
As the situation outside the Orlando "bubble" unravels, the NBA is also waiting out the results of isolating.
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