The NBA has expanded the number of people it is allowing on the Walt Disney World campus and more changes could be coming in the future, according to Sam Amick and Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic. A memo was sent out this week saying that team governors will be allowed to attend seeding games, and the eight teams not invited to Orlando can send scouts when the season resumes in 13 days.
All 30 teams will be permitted to have up to three people — a governor, assistant governor and a senior basketball operations executive — at each game. They will only be permitted in the arenas, not any other part of the campus environment, and will be required to report a negative COVID-19 test in the previous 72 hours. Under safety precautions, they will be required to wear masks, undergo temperature checks and symptom screenings and a “rapid coronavirus test” before entering.
“This policy will be revisited and potentially revised based on campus conditions at that time,” the memo states.
There’s more on the NBA’s restart:
- The league is using a combination of technologies to help keep players safe in Orlando, writes Mark Medina of USA Today. Players are required to start each day by using the NBA’s MyHealth app, entering information from a Bluetooth-enabled smart thermometer and a pulse oximeter that measures oxygen levels. “What we really wanted to do was empower everyone to do it themselves every morning so we can integrate that,” said Tom Ryan, the NBA’s Associate Vice President of Basketball Strategy. “So if there is a flag, we will know it right away.”
- Elaborate handshakes have long been a part of NBA culture, but those may be changing now with so much concern over spreading germs, observes Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report. Some teams have started touching elbows instead, while the Nets have adopted air high-fives and Jazz players end each practice by putting their feet in the middle of the huddle. “Some guys chewing their mouth guards, some guys wiping sweat off their face,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said, “certain things that the NBA wants our players to get away from doing, just to create as safe an environment as possible.”
- Tom Haberstroh of NBC Sports examines how the league’s lack of transparency is affecting the betting industry. Teams aren’t permitted to confirm coronavirus cases without consent from the player.