In Orlando, Florida, the NBA is expected to continue. Isolated from the outside world, the 22 best teams in the North American basketball league to date will play the championship at the Disney World site from the end of July. The players’ union NBPA (National Basketball Players Association) has approved the plans – but there is still a long way to go among the professionals.
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Avery Bradley, for example, a key player in the guard position with the title candidate Los Angeles Lakers, said on Tuesday. For one thing, he was not willing to endanger the health of his family in the slightest, Bradley told the US sports broadcaster ESPN: “In addition, as promised, I will take advantage of this time off to build projects to strengthen my communities to concentrate.”
The 29-year-old is part of a coalition of players, led by superstar Kyrie Irving, who oppose a continuation of the NBA season. It is currently more important to work against racism and for social justice in the USA, they say. Since George Floyd’s death, many basketball professionals have taken part in the protests in the United States through social media or personal presence. One argument would be to dedicate oneself to sports again just now.
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Of all places in Florida
This is contradicted by players like Austin Rivers from the Houston Rockets or Danny Green, a teammate of Bradley and Howard at the Lakers. Going public again as an united player in the form of the NBA bubble in Orlando offers the opportunity to position oneself particularly effectively in the racism debate and thereby to promote it. This party also includes LeBron James, the biggest star in basketball. His word is law anyway – no matter what the other professionals say, Patrick Beverley of city rival Los Angeles Clippers wrote.
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It remains to be seen how many players will cancel, not only because of the social situation in the USA. Bradley cited the risk of infection in Florida, which along with Texas and Arizona is currently one of the most severely affected states, as the main reason for his decision. Last Saturday alone, 4049 new infections were reported.
The NBA counters this with a 113-page hygiene concept. Last week Anthony Fauci, the chief virologist for the United States, praised the plan as “very creative.” That was before the sharp rise in corona numbers in Florida. The player union boss, Michele Roberts, was not surprised ”given the fact State’s approach to reopening, ”she said on Sunday to ESPN:“ We will monitor the situation. ”
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The players have been regularly tested for the Covid 19 pathogen since Tuesday, and the journey to Orlando is scheduled for July 7, where it will start on July 30.
There is already a positive case: Nikola Jokic from the Denver Nuggets, one of the best centers in the league, has become infected in his home country of Serbia and is likely to be significantly late in terms of the NBA’s schedule.
What if someone gets infected in Disney World?
In Disney World, the 22 teams are divided into three hotels. Within the hotels, and also within the teams, strict distance and hygiene rules should apply, which should only be gradually relaxed after two weeks of joint quarantine and regular tests. After the first round of playoffs, guests of the players are even supposed to be approved in the NBA bubble, as long as they have been tested negatively and had been quarantined for three days.
The biggest security vulnerability that is just being discussed is hotel staff. It should be checked regularly for symptoms, but not specifically tested. So what happens when a professional gets infected this way?
There is a plan for this case of infection: isolation, medical monitoring and release only when the patient no longer shows symptoms and produces two negative test results within 24 hours. At first that sounds coherent and also practical – if it weren’t for the risk of an infection chain within a team. Should this happen, the sporty construction would be in danger of collapsing.
Only an infection within the NBA bubble in Disney World could be enough to burst it.
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