[ad_1]
Here is some of what awaits NBA players going to Disney World in Florida next month: game rooms, golf course access, cabanas to cool off in the heat, fishing areas, bowling, backstage tours and salon services.
It only sounds like vacation.
The NBA described very specific plans to players and teams for the restart on Tuesday, doing so in a memo and handbook.
LeBron James and his LA Lakers team now know a clear plan for how the NBA will return
The league will return at Disney World in Florida with a number of safety features in place
If players do test positive for coronavirus, it will not curtail plans to play out the season
Players will also:
- Be required to wear a Disney MagicBand which will double up as a room key and check in for coronavirus testing and any other medical screenings. They will set off an alarm if social distancing is broken for over five seconds.
- Have to quarantine upon return if they are to leave the campus at any point
- Change at their hotels before a game and return to their rooms for a shower afterwards
- Have their salaries protected if they are protected or required to shield – they will still receive full payment from their team
With safety being of the foremost importance during the coronavirus pandemic, players were told they will be tested regularly – but not with the deep nasal swabs – and must adhere to strict physical distancing and mask-wearing policies.
The Grand Floridian Resort & Spa is one of three Disney properties that the NBA will inhabit
The league and the National Basketball Players Association have been working on the terms of how the restart will work for weeks, all while constantly seeking advice from medical experts including Dr Anthony Fauci, perhaps the best-known physician in the country when it comes to the battle against COVID-19.
‘My confidence, it didn’t exist at the beginning of this virus because I was so frightened by it,’ union executive director Michele Roberts said. ‘Now having lived, and breathed, and suffered through the hours and hours of understanding the virus, and listening to our experts, and comparing different alternative protocols, I can’t even think of anything else we could do short of hermetically seal the players that would keep them safe.’
Later on Tuesday, the NBA released its medical protocols to teams, a 108-page file. Among the highlights: players must be part of a contact tracing program and it is ‘recommended that coaches wear face coverings pre- or post-game where feasible.’
‘The occurrence of a small or otherwise expected number of COVID-19 cases will not require a decision to suspend or cancel the resumption of the 2019-20 season,’ the NBA wrote.
PLAYER AMENITIES AT DISNEY
The NBA also sent a handbook to players describing the amenities for players staying at one of three Disney World properties: The Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, the Yacht Club Resort and the Gran Destino Tower at Coronado Springs Resort.
- Athletes will have 24-hour concierge service
- Daily entertainment will be made available, including movie screenings and DJs. Teams can also take fishing trips, golf outings or book a private restaurant for an evening
- There will be a players-only lounge with TVs, arcade games, and ping pong – although doubles is strictly forbidden due to social distancing guidelines
- Every team will have a crew of Disney chefs and cooks ‘to create individualized team menus, support team dietary needs, and ensure health and safety guidelines are followed.’ Every player will receive ‘three freshly-prepared meals a day, and four meals a day on Game days’
- There will be chaplain services, yoga sessions, virtual mind-health sessions and other mental health services
- Players can book appointments at a private salon or barbershop
(Source: ESPN)
Disney’s Yacht Club Resort will house several NBA teams for a portion of the summer
Players will wear bands that will sound an alarm if social distancing is breached off the court
Toronto Raptors – based outside the US – are allowed to gather for pre-camp workouts
The NBA also gave guidelines on how to properly clean a league basketball
Most teams will arrive in Florida on July 7, 8 or 9. A person with knowledge of the situation said the reigning champion Toronto Raptors, the lone NBA team based outside of the US, will be permitted to gather for some pre-camp workouts – under strict guidelines that other teams will follow in their own cities – before that arrival date.
The Raptors are likely to train somewhere in Florida, said the person who spoke to Associated Press on condition of anonymity because no deal has yet been signed.
For the Raptors, it’s been an area of concern largely because of current Canadian government regulations that call for a 14-day quarantine for people returning to Canada. Some Raptors players are in Toronto right now; some are in the US.
Nobody on the NBA’s Disney campus, which has been loosely described as a bubble, will be allowed in anyone else’s sleeping room and the incredible detail of the NBA’s plan also stops stars playing ping pong in doubles in order to maintain social distancing.
The NBA also told players and teams that it will work with one or more outside health care companies to provide a medical clinic with X-ray and MRI capability on the campus – critical, since in theory the league would not want players and team staff leaving and potentially facing coronavirus exposure by going outside of the Disney property for such exams.
The league’s plan also spells out how training rooms and meeting rooms will be utilized, the procedures for practice-court usage – three-hour blocks per team, all scheduled, with one open hour in between sessions for cleaning and sanitizing – and even how team and player laundry will be handled.
COVID-19 CASES SPIKE IN FLORIDA AHEAD OF NBA SEASON RESTART
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is interviewed before the start of a NASCAR Cup Series auto race on Sunday. DeSantis is facing criticism for re-opening many parts of the state’s economy as COVID-19 cases began to spike again across his state
The NBA’s arrival at Disney is looming as the rate of positive tests around the state are rising, and officials such as Governor Ron DeSantis are facing criticism for re-opening many parts of the state’s economy. But if NBA players aren’t venturing out among the public, the hope is that no matter what’s going on beyond Disney’s fences that the quasi-bubble for basketball won’t be affected.
The rate of positive tests in the Orlando area in the seven-day period ending Monday was nearly 6 percent. For the seven days immediately preceding that, it was 2.4 percent — meaning the rate has more than doubled in a one-week span.
National Basketball Players Association executive director Michele Roberts said she is concerned but not surprised that COVID-19 cases are surging in Florida
‘It’s concerning but not surprising,’ National Basketball Players Association executive director Michele Roberts said. ‘I’ve watched this governor behave as if the virus is an inconvenience as opposed to a virus. So, I guess watching the way the state is adhering or not adhering to CDC guidelines, it’s not surprising that these numbers would go up.’
DeSantis has said Florida’s rising numbers reflects more testing and other factors, though the percentage of positive tests is also significantly higher than was the case just a couple weeks ago across the state and in the Orlando area.
The state’s agriculture commissioner, Nikki Fried, tweeted Tuesday that DeSantis ‘has lost control’ of Florida’s response to the pandemic and recklessly re-opened the state ‘despite the data screaming for caution.’
DeSantis is a Republican; Fried is the only elected Democrat to currently hold a statewide office.
‘My solace is that our guys are not going to be out and about in the city of Orlando,’ Roberts said. ‘The players will be flown in non-commercial, and they will essentially be on campus for the entirety of their stay until such time as their season ends.’
(Associated Press)
Stars of the NBA such as James Harden will have to shower at their hotel room after playing
Teams are allowed to bring up to 35 people – including players – as part of their group
It also addresses the polarizing issue of how the league and its players will be able to address social injustice and racial inequality – two issues of constant importance, particularly now across the country.
The NBA said it would be ‘a central goal of our season restart’ to bring attention and what it called ‘sustained action to issues of social injustice, including combatting systemic racism, expanding educational and economic opportunities across the Black community, enacting meaningful police and criminal justice reform and promoting greater civic engagement.’
The league said it remains in talks with the NBPA how best to make that happen. Some NBA players, such as NBPA executive board member Kyrie Irving of the Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Lakers center Dwight Howard, have suggested that playing could take away from the movement to spur immediate and dramatic change on racial issues in the country.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has said that if a player does not feel comfortable playing at Disney – whether for health reasons or because of the social-justice issues – then he does not have to report with his team and will not be disciplined, other than losing salary for games missed.
The stars of the NBA and their coaches will have mental health professionals on hand
NBA commissioner Adam Silver says players will not be sanctioned for deciding not to return
‘The very fact that our players have the option of not playing, I think says a lot about the commissioner’s ability to appreciate how big an issue this is, not just for African-American players but for all of our members,’ Roberts said. ‘There’s not been one ounce of skepticism about the sincerity of the players´ feelings about this.’
The NBA is planning on games in three arenas during the seeding-game portion of the restart, the ones where each of the 22 teams going to the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex will play eight games before the playoffs begin. Teams will be housed in three hotels, with between six and eight teams in each.
Other plans the NBA has for the restart include mental health professionals being available for players and coaches; pregame chapel services, done virtually; yoga and meditation; three meals a day and four meals on game days; and restaurant availability.
Teams can bring up to 35 people as part of the basketball operations group, which includes players, a senior executive, an athletic trainer, a strength and conditioning coach, an equipment manager and security.
[ad_2]
Source link
Have something to say? Leave a comment: