The narrative surrounding the NBA’s Orlando Bubble League return seems to shift on a near-hourly basis depending on who you listen to, but according to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne and Adrian Wojnarowski, professional basketball will be played on July 30th.
NBA owners and team representatives approved the NBA’s return plan weeks ago despite the fact that most of the key details were still up in the air. Those unanswered questions coupled with a legitimate worry that returning to the court could overshadow the Black Lives Matter movement had seemingly put the NBA’s scheduled return in jeopardy.
Kyrie Irving was the driving force behind several important conversations between the NBPA and its players, and according to Wojnarowski and Shelburne, “several players on the call Friday said they were considering sitting out the remainder of the season in order to focus on social justice issues, or because they were uncomfortable with the proposed plans to resume the season with 22 teams in a campus-like environment in Orlando.”
There isn’t one singular issue preventing the NBA’s return. It’s a lot more complicated than that.
The NBA and the NBPA still have several problems to resolve, but latest reports suggest none of those problems will actually prevent the league from returning with a structure strongly resembling what both sides previously agreed to.
ESPN’s reporting with players, agents, the NBPA and league officials over the weekend found no indication that the NBA’s return is in jeopardy — or that there’s even a significant group of players ready to sit out.
There are expected to be some players who decide not to play, sources said, but so far there’s no indication that it’s enough to compromise the league’s plans to return, which have already been approved by the owners (29-1) and team representatives (28-0).
I expect the narrative to continue shifting as we approach some sort of a resolution between all parties, but as Wojnarowski and Shelburne noted in their report on Monday, each player will have the freedom to decide for themselves if they would like to participate in the Orlando Bubble League.
In the NBA and NBPA agreement, players choosing not to join their teams in the bubble will not be penalized by teams, but they will lose payment on games missed — 1/92nd of the money owed them, sources said.
For players who believe they have a medical reason that elevates them into a higher-risk COVID-19 category and want to be excused with pay, the NBA and NBPA have set up an independent doctors panel to evaluate the players and make a determination, sources said.
Even if a player is pronounced healthy enough to play without a heightened risk, he is still able to stay home — only without pay, sources said.
Stay tuned for the next edition of “is this actually going to happen or what?”
I’m still not overly impressed with the whole “risk your health if you want to get paid” philosophy the NBA is using. Pay everyone, and give hazard pay to the players that participate in Florida.
But as far as the league’s ability to pull this off, I think Dr. Fauci’s public support of the NBA plan was somewhat reassuring:
On the other hand, I’m not sure anybody really knows what’s going on in Florida as far as the contagion numbers. I’d be pretty nervous being “bubbled” there.
Yeah, I wouldn’t go anywhere near Florida.
A lot of theme parks have reopened in Florida like Universal Studios, Sea World, and Legoland. There is a particular Youtuber I follow that made vlogs visiting all of them to get his first impressions, and though it’s a requirement to wear a mask and social distance (although in Legoland for some reason masks are only recommended for guests) he points out that many either are not wearing masks properly or not at all (whether on the rides or just walking around), and ignore social distancing. He mentioned how he got into a heated argument with a group of young people because they were standing right behind him in a line and they got a big attitude with being reminded to social distance.
I know California isn’t Florida, but it’s reasons like this that I’m not planning to go to public places anytime soon. The gym I go to is scheduled to reopen June 22, but you will not see me back there until this whole thing is over.
Yeah, I haven’t been to the gym for so long. Now I wish I hadn’t re-gifted that Shake Weight last Christmas.
I feel bad because I don’t have weights at my home, nor do I have room for a workout bench, and my arm and leg muscles probably hate me so much for not strength training for three months…
Target should have some relatively inexpensive dumbbells, and maybe a pull-up bar you can attach to your door frame.
If you don’t want to risk going in a Target, maybe pushups and something to stand in for dumbbells like a big water jug? Sack of rice? Bench press a watermelon? Crunches? calf-raises?
I do a lot of reps lifting forks.
Yeah, agree with Kosta – pick up a cheap set of dumbbells, if you can. I have a pair of ten pounders and use them for about a dozen different workout routines. Add pushups (close, normal and wide), chair dips and lunges/squats for the legs. Takes me about 25 minutes, and maybe another 10 to do stretches/light yoga. No other equipment needed and very little space required.
Doing this three mornings per week has pretty fairly replicated my normal gym workouts. I probably couldn’t outrun Kingsguru right now, but I could keep his stabbing hand at bay.
I got the door frame pull-up bar and a jump rope. I do push-ups, pull-ups, squats, lunges, crunches and jump rope every day, and log my sets to hold my lazy ass accountable. I also bought a “DeskCycle” which is basically a recumbent bike you can ride from your couch/desk chair. I ride that bad boy when I’m just lounging around.
That being said, I’ve definitely lost muscle mass, and I’m basically treading water from a overall weight perspective.
Nice. Pull-ups are the devil’s work, though. REPENT
forgive me father for I have chinned
Thanks, I’ll try to start doing that!
With the obvious caveat that I’m not an expert on any of this, it does seem kinda weird that there’s this perception that players may be at a higher risk inside the bubble versus outside. Buddy was playing in something called the Skinz League in OK last week. Other players are attending rallies with thousands of people. I respect that they are willing to risk their health to support an admirable cause, but it’s obviously riskier than the NBA’s bubble plan. I’m sure there are counter examples of players that have isolated themselves to avoid exposure, but it seems like the average player would be less likely to contract the virus (and just be safer in general) inside the bubble.
On the flipside, I don’t think the NBA should dock a player’s pay if they are uncomfortable entering the bubble for whatever reason. I honestly think this is the easiest solution even though it means owners will write checks to healthy guys sitting at home. Just give every player some sort of conscientious objector rights, so the player don’t have to choose between financial security and health and/or advocacy for racial justice.
Agreed that Dr. Fauci saying that helps me feel better about this. I still am fighting the internal fight of my desire to watch the Kings painfully let the playoffs slip through our grasp once again vs protecting all the teams attending the tournament.
I do recommend the NBA adopt a different logo for the duration of the tournament.
Slight topic diversion. I missed this one. I like it.
This is complicated from various angles, as Ed Davis ‘remarks show.
As opposed to Ed Davis, who probably only has a $5 million mansion!
Could be, but he still raises some interesting points that may apply to quite a few end of the bench guys on each team.
Oh, definitely. But his criticism could apply to about 90% of the league, and the implication that their opinion has less weight (pretty sure COVID doesn’t care how much money you have) is ridiculous.
It would be hard for me to criticize any of these guys for feeling however they feel – since a majority are subject to the problems BLM is attempting to address, they are all susceptible to COVID issues, and they all have to deal with an extended lockdown away from their friend and family plus potential wage loss.
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