The Disney World site in Orlando has the preference of the NBA to resume its season suspended because of the coronavirus, said Wednesday the site The Athletic.
“Orlando / Disney World is the clearly preferred option for being the site where the matches for the 2019-2020 season will resume (…) This place has taken a serious lead over cities like Las Vegas,” said The Athletic. ESPN reports that the matches would restart “shortly before the end of July”.
So far, according to American media, the NBA has been thinking of basing the teams and playing these matches in one or two “bubbles” in quarantine. Las Vegas and Orlando held the rope. In recent days, Houston has emerged as another potential site. But according to The Athletic, “for the NBA, Disney World, its complexes, hotels and necessary services, has always been the most attractive of all possibilities”.
For its part, Yahoo Sports reporter Keith Smith, who worked for nearly two decades for Disney World, said that the Orlando complex “had begun the first steps in renovating some of its hotel spaces to accommodate NBA teams. “
For the time being, the body has still not decided to resume its season, even if it is actively working on it. Commissioner Adam Silver said on May 12 that he would make an announcement within two to four weeks. However, according to ESPN, citing anonymous sources, many franchise owners expect Silver to announce a resumption of matches “shortly before the end of July”.
The NBA interrupted its championship on March 11 after the positive test at Covid-19 of the French Rudy Gobert (Utah). There was one month of regular season left before play-offs which should have started in mid-April. One of the scenarios returning with insistence consists of a recovery from the play-off phase, which would be extended to more clubs than the 16 usually concerned, with play-offs.
Also according to ESPN, the NBA should communicate around June 1 instructions to clubs, to allow them to recall players who have left the United States and Canada, like the Dallas Mavericks star Luca Doncic, who left for him in Slovenia.
ats, dpa
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