Restart Notes: Orlando, China, Williams, “Smart Rings”
With COVID-19 cases rising rapidly in Central Florida, Iliana Limon Romero and Roy Parry of The Orlando Sentinel examine whether it’s safe for the NBA and MLS to follow through with plans to resume their seasons at the Walt Disney World complex. They talked to several health officials, along with executives from Orlando’s teams in both leagues, who insist that the risk to players will be minimal.
“A lot of time and effort has been put into the safety protocols,” said Magic CEO Alex Martins. “We’re confident that the protocols that are in place will keep everybody on the Disney campus confined and amongst each other, and with little to no exposure of anyone else from the community. So in saying that, I’m confident that we have a safe plan in place and that despite the recent rise in cases in Florida that it will be a safe environment for all of our players, coaches and staff that are at Disney.”
Neither league has a concrete plan that would force play to stop, the authors add. Both plan to isolate any players or staff members who test positive, and several negative tests will be necessary for them to be deemed healthy. Also, representatives of both leagues maintain that the high number of COVID-19 tests they will need won’t impact their availability for medical professionals in the Orlando area.
There’s more related to the league’s restart:
- The Chinese Basketball Association resumed play today after being shut down for nearly five months, The Associated Press reports. Games are being played in empty arenas as the semifinals started with 20 teams split into two divisions. “Everything you have experienced this season will surely write a strong stroke in the history of the CBA league, and the history will also bear in mind the hardship, dedication and contribution of each of us,” league chairman Yao Ming wrote in a message to players and fans on the CBA’s website. “As the first national large-scale sports event to be restarted in China, the CBA rematch has a strategic significance for comprehensively promoting the resumption of production and restoring life, and its social impact has exceeded the basketball itself.”
- Clippers guard Lou Williams remains “50-50” about resuming the season, writes Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times. Williams is concerned that playing again will take the focus off the push for racial justice. The Clippers had internal discussions about how they can assist with the movement, and Williams called support from the team and the NBA office “like a weight lifted off our shoulders.”
- Several players are expressing reservations about wearing “smart rings” in the bubble environment, with Kyle Kuzma saying it looks like a “tracking device,” according to Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today.
Community Shootaround: Will The Season Restart?
Just two weeks ago, the prospects of restarting the season seemed bright. The NBA Players Association agreed by a 28-0 vote to the league’s plan to bring 22 teams to Orlando and finish off the season, beginning on July 31.
Every practice facility around the league reopened, albeit for limited individual workouts. The league tried to address all concerns and develop strict protocols to ensure the safety of all players, coaches, staff and family members who enter the Orlando bubble facility.
Yet recent developments have created more uncertainty about whether the NBA will actually crown a champion this season or whether its best-laid plans will go up in smoke.
Social justice issues have come to the forefront and a coalition of players, led by Kyrie Irving and Avery Bradley, would rather focus on fostering changes than donning uniforms again this season.
The reason why play was halted in the first place hasn’t gone away. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage around various parts of the United States, including Florida, where hundreds of NBA players and personnel are soon heading to practice and play ball.
Other pro leagues are experiencing issues with players and personnel testing positives, even though major sports in the country remain dormant. The virus has prompted three MLB teams to close their spring camp facilities. The NHL’s Tampa Bay Lighting shut down their facility on Friday after positive tests.
With those issues in mind, we come to our question of the day: Do you believe the NBA will be able to finish its season in Orlando? Or will the league eventually have to cancel the season?
Please take to the comments section to weigh in on this topic. We look forward to your input.
Atlantic Notes: Tatum, Kanter, Knicks, Embiid
Celtics forward Jayson Tatum is not thinking of sitting out the remainder of season due to concerns over a contract extension, A. Sherrod Blakely of NBC Sports Boston reports. According to another report earlier this week, Tatum had expressed some reluctance about playing this summer because of an elevated risk of injury, which could potentially impact his ability to reach a max rookie scale extension this offseason. Tatum does have some concerns about contracting the novel coronavirus in the Orlando bubble and the league’s plans on addressing the issue, according to Blakely, but it’s not worrisome enough for the 22-year-old to sit out.
We have more from around the Atlantic Division:
- While some NBA players believe that playing again this season might take the focus away from social justice reforms, Celtics center Enes Kanter believes it would be far more effective to get the point across while playing. He made those comments on The Enes Kanter Show podcast (hat tip to Justin Leger of NBC Sports Boston). “The whole world is going to be focusing on you, right? You can make a huge difference,” he said. “All the microphones will be on your face, so you can get your message out. Whatever you want to talk about, ‘Black Lives Matter,’ freedom, justice, democracy. Whatever you want to talk about, the whole world will be listening to you.”
- The Knicks’ head coaching search will begin in earnest next week with introductory interviews scheduled with candidates, SNY’s Ian Begley tweets. Those initial conversations will be brief and take place over video conference. They will be followed by longer, more formal interviews, likely also via video conference, Begley adds. Thus far, nine candidates have been identified as probable interviewees.
- Joel Embiid‘s contract is now fully guaranteed, but there was very little chance it wouldn’t have happened anyway, as Derek Bodner of The Athletic explains. Embiid’s salaries for the next three years were previously conditionally guaranteed, but the NBA’s recent agreement to prorate bonus clauses and performance incentives this season impacted his max contract. Even if the Sixers had wanted in the future to recoup some of the non-guaranteed money in Embiid’s contract, he not only needed to miss time with ailments related to prior injuries, but the team would have had to waive him. In that scenario, the Sixers would have still been on the hook cap-wise for the guaranteed portion of his salary.
Restart Notes: “Smart Rings,” Tampering, Staff, COVID-19
The Oura “smart ring” could play an important role in keeping players safe in the Orlando “bubble” environment, writes Samantha Previte of The New York Post. The rings were mentioned in the 100-page restart plan that the NBA unveiled earlier this week.
All players and staff members will be given the option to wear the diagnostic rings, which have sensors that keep track of heart rate, respiration rate, body temperature and other important health statistics. The data is put into an algorithm to predict the onset of COVID-19. Wearing the rings is optional, and participants won’t have access to their own data. It will be sent to the University of Michigan to create an illness risk index.
The NBA also plans to use smart technology to compile data on bubble residents’ temperatures, blood oxygen saturation levels, locations and pairwise proximity, Previte adds. Everyone staying at the Walt Disney World resort will receive smart thermometers, pulse oximeters, Disney MagicBands and proximity alarms. The MagicBands can be used for contact tracing, and players will be required to wear them when they aren’t on the court.
There’s more information about the league’s restart:
- Tampering is among many concerns the NBA faces as it prepares to bring 22 teams into one location, observes Ethan Strauss of The Athletic. Players are likely to form new bonds as they are stuck in three hotels with a lot of down time between games. Strauss suggests that the eight teams not invited to Orlando could face a disadvantage in future free agency.
- Teams are also upset that the league is requiring them to designate roles for some members of their support staff, rather than giving them flexibility to bring whomever they want, Strauss adds in the same piece. Each team must bring at least one senior executive, athletic trainer, strength and conditioning coach, equipment manager and team security official. The GMs that Strauss interviewed all plan to serve as their team’s senior executive.
- Dr. William D. Parham, director of mental health and wellness for the National Basketball Players Association, believes players will have a strong platform to advocate for social change by returning to action, writes Tom Haberstroh of NBC Sports. “The history of using celebrity to raise social consciousness, conversation and action — there’s precedent behavior for that,” Parham said. “The question this time around, is this going to be different? I personally think it is going to be different.”
- The coronavirus rate in the Orlando area continues to be a concern, tweets Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. Orange County reported a 15.1% rate of positive tests Thursday.
And-Ones: NBA Layoffs, Larkin, N’Diaye, Weber
The NBA has laid off a number of its behind-the-scenes employees this week, according to reports from Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News and Marc Stein of The New York Times (Twitter links). Alex Silverman of Morning Consult suggests that approximately 100 employees were affected. League spokesperson Mike Bass confirmed the layoffs, though he declined to specify how many employees were let go.
“We are restructuring certain functions at the league office to better align with changes in our business, particularly around digital media, and be well-positioned for future growth,” Bass said in a statement.
While Silverman’s report indicates that the cutbacks are related to the coronavirus pandemic, Bondy says it’s unclear what role the pandemic played, if any. The league’s events staff, ticketing staff and team business staff were affected by the layoffs, Bondy adds.
Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Former first-rounder Shane Larkin, who last played in the NBA in 2018, has agreed to a two-year, $7.7MM contract extension with Turkish team Anadolu Efes, according to Semih Tuna of Eurohoops.net. The deal includes an NBA opt-out for 2021, though Larkin recently said he’d only consider a return stateside if he were offered a favorable role.
- Former NBA big man Makhtar N’Diaye has agreed to be the new general manager of Senegal’s national men’s basketball team, reports Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated (Twitter link). N’Diaye only appeared in four games back in 1999, but made history as the first player from Senegal to play in the NBA.
- Veteran guard Briante Weber, who suited up for five NBA teams between 2015-18, has signed with Canada’s Hamilton Honey Badgers, the team announced in a press release (hat tip to Sportando). Weber, 27, was a G League All-Star in 2017 and made the NBAGL’s All-Defensive Team twice, but never carved out a regular rotation role with an NBA team for any extended stretch.
Coaches’ Union Expresses Concerns With NBA’s Medical Review Process
The National Basketball Coaches Association has conveyed to the league its concerns with a series of new medical standards and guidelines for the resumed season in Orlando, according to ESPN’s Zach Lowe and Adrian Wojnarowski.
As Lowe and Wojnarowski outline, the NBA’s medical review process for coaches and other staffers will involve a team doctor reviewing a lengthy questionnaire on potential risk factors that will be completed by each individual. If the team doctor designates a staffer as “higher-risk,” that individual must receive clearance from relevant specialist physicians.
Even if the staffer receives that clearance, the NBA can flag the person to undergo an additional review with a league-appointed doctor and could prohibit them from going to Orlando if it’s determined that they “would present a direct threat to his or her health,” per ESPN.
According to Lowe and Wojnarowski, NBCA executive director Dave Fogel and president Rick Carlisle expressed concerns about the NBA having the power to prohibit coaches from doing their jobs, noting that being left out of this summer’s restart could “severely jeopardize” those coaches’ future employment opportunities. Three head coaches – Gregg Popovich, Mike D’Antoni, and Alvin Gentry – are at least 65 years old, as are several assistants around the league.
As ESPN’s report notes, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently stated that employers could stop employees from going to a workplace if their attendance “poses a direct threat to (the employee’s) health that cannot be eliminated or reduced by reasonable accommodation.”
The NBA’s policy mimics that “direct threat” language, likely in an effort to avoid a potential legal battle, though legal experts consulted by ESPN believe the league would have a hard time proving that “direct threat” standard, given all the measures being taken to increase safety in the Orlando bubble.
“We feel the medical review process is designed to flag only those individuals who pose significant threats of substantial harm to themselves that cannot be reduced or eliminated by the NBA’s considerable steps to create a healthy and safe atmosphere in Orlando,” the NBCA said in a statement, per ESPN. “Adam (Silver) and the NBA have created a situation in Orlando that is likely far safer than in our coaches’ home markets. Absent a significant threat, we believe a coach should be able to understand and assume their individual risks, waive liability, and coach in Orlando.”
D’Antoni and Gentry are represented by the same agent, Warren LeGarie, who told ESPN: “I hope there is a basketball solution to this issue rather than a legal one.”
Restart Notes: Howard, Lillard, Ranadive, Korver
In a statement sent to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, Lakers center Dwight Howard said that the players’ coalition expressing concerns with the NBA’s Orlando restart plan isn’t looking to derail the resumption of the season.
“Our main objective is to raise awareness and gain transparency on the things that concern us collectively,” Howard said. “Many of our fellow players are afraid to voice their concerns and are continuing to follow along with what they believe they have to.
“… In a time like this where we are fighting for equal rights, it would be contradictory if we told our own players to not play and do as we say,” Howard continued. “We are not here to dictate, nor do we have the power to do so. We want to make sure communication is taking place openly without fear. … If any one of us chooses to sit, it has nothing to do with another player’s right to play. Not once has any of us told one of our fellow brethren not to go to the Orlando Bubble Experiment and we stressed that in our meetings.”
A report earlier this week indicated that Kyrie Irving, who has been one of the leaders of the coalition voicing concerns about the NBA’s restart, has encouraged his Nets teammates not to go to Orlando. Howard’s statement suggests that’s not the case. The veteran big man added that he and other members of the players’ coalition are “in full support of our brothers whether we decide to enter or not enter the Orlando bubble.”
Here’s more on the NBA’s resumption:
- Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard said earlier this week that Irving and Howard “have a point” and that he doesn’t feel “100 percent comfortable” about resuming the season this summer, but that he’s willing to take the risk because of the impact that players’ salvaged salaries can have on their communities. “I can only speak for myself — but I think it goes for other guys as well — we are the financial support for our families and for a lot of our community,” Lillard said, per Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. “We bring a lot of that financial responsibility to support black businesses in black communities. So it makes a lot of sense for us (to return), from that standpoint.”
- Even as the positive test rate and total number of COVID-19 cases in Florida continue to increase, Kings owner Vivek Ranadive said this week during a CNBC appearance that he’s confident in the NBA’s return-to-play plan, as Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee writes. “Statistically, it’s actually going to be safer to be in a bubble in Orlando than to stay home and go to a grocery store, so this has been very well thought through and I feel very confident that we will be in Orlando in a few weeks,” Ranadive said.
- Bucks forward Kyle Korver said this week during a conversation with Richard Jefferson (video link) that he’d be willing to sit out the restart if his black teammates and friends felt it was the best way to bring about change, as Joe Coles of The Deseret News details.
- The NBPA issued a press release on Wednesday that discussed a series of social-justice issues and initiatives and noted that the union is considering ideas for how players “can effectively continue their advocacy on the national stage occasioned by the games” in Orlando this summer.
More Details On NBA’s Health, Safety Protocols For Orlando
We relayed a number of details on the NBA’s return-to-play plan in a series of posts on Tuesday, but those details continued to trickle in late on Tuesday night. The NBA sent a 113-page document to teams outlining the health and safety protocols that will govern the league’s return in Orlando, and Shams Charania and Sam Amick of The Athletic and Brian Windhorst and Tim Bontemps of ESPN were among those rounding up the highlights.
Here are some of the key points from that handbook that we haven’t full covered yet:
- The NBA will establish an anonymous hotline that will allow individuals on the Orlando campus to report those who are violating social-distancing and safety guidelines, per Charania and Amick. If a player is found to be violating those guidelines, he could be subject to a warning, fine, suspension, and/or even removal from the campus, according to The Athletic’s report.
- Teams will be permitted to bring a 37-person traveling party to Orlando, according to Windhorst and Bontemps. In addition to up to 17 players, teams will be bringing coaches, trainers, equipment managers, and potentially security and front-office personnel, and will be encouraged to bring a mental health professional, per ESPN. If a club advances beyond the first round of the postseason, it will be allowed to add two members to its party — the team could bring two more members to Orlando if it advances past the second round.
- While no fans will be permitted to attend games, there will be people in the stands, including a limited number of media members, team executives, league and union personnel, sponsors, and even rival players, according to ESPN.
- Individuals who leave the Orlando campus and want to re-enter would face a self-quarantine period of 10 days. However, in the event of an emergency, an excused absence is possible, according to Windhorst and Bontemps. Re-entering the campus after an excused absence would only require a four-day quarantine as long as the person repeatedly tested negative for the coronavirus.
- Although players won’t be tested for recreational drugs in Orlando, they’ve been advised that marijuana is illegal in Florida and is banned at Disney World, as Windhorst and Bontemps note.
- If a team staff member (ie. not a player) opts not to travel to Orlando, it will be up to the person’s team whether or not to continue paying them for games and team activities, tweets ESPN’s Zach Lowe.
- Housekeeping staff at Disney is expected to service hotel rooms just once a week (wearing PPE) in order to minimize potential interactions with players, tweets ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne.
- As both The Athletic and ESPN reports outline, a number of leisure activities will be available to players and others within the bubble, but strict protocols will be in place for those activities. For instance, decks of cards will have to be disposed after use, doubles games of ping-pong won’t be permitted, and no caddies or sharing of balls and clubs will be allowed during golfing.
More Details Emerge On NBA Campus Plan
Details emerged about the NBA’s six-phase plan earlier today and more information is trickling in. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com (Twitter link), the league has confirmed it will not suspend the season again if some players test positive for COVID-19.
“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 Health and Safety protocol read.
Here’s more on the league’s return to play:
- In the NBA campus, teams will have two rows on the bench and Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter links) relays what the protocol for those spots will be. The first row will have players and coaches. No mask will be required, though it’s recommended that coaches wear one. In the second row, other players and coaches will be required to wear a mask at all times unless the player is an active player.
- Referees will not be required to wear masks on the court, Charania adds.
- All players, team staff, and guests will be required to acknowledge in writing that they will adhere to all rules set forth by the league while on the NBA campus, Charania tweets. Failure to adhere to the rules could result in discipline that may include a warning, fine, suspension, or getting kicked off the campus.
Players Bringing Guests To NBA Campus Face Restrictions
Earlier today, Shams Charania of The Athletic published a lengthy document disguised as an article that provided the league’s plan to resume the 2019/20 season. The six-phase plan will gradually take steps toward playing real basketball in Orlando and the NBA is taking every feasible step toward providing a safe environment for its players.
Part of that includes restrictions for players’ guests. They won’t be permitted on the campus through the first five phases and will only be allowed once the first round of the playoffs concludes. Here are some details on the guest situation:
- Every remaining team following the first round of the playoffs will be allowed to reserve up to 17 guest rooms (one for every player, so if a club only has 15 men on the roster, then it will only be 15).
- Players are responsible to pay for their guests’ housing. However, the cost of meals and COVID-19 testing will not be charged to players.
- Guests will have to undergo three days of self-quarantine outside of the NBA campus. This can be done in the team’s home market or in Orlando.
- If a guest does not return a positive COVID-19 test, then they may join the NBA campus. However, upon arrival in the bubble, the guest will have to quarantine for four additional days and receive testing each day.
- Agents are not allowed to go unless that person is also a family member.
- Once a guest leaves the campus, they are not allowed back in.