NBA restart were all at the Disney campus together for the first time Friday." data-reactid="12">The 22 teams participating in the NBA restart were all together on the Disney campus for the first time on Friday.
None of them, however, arrived in the Orlando, Florida area with the usual travel party.
Leaving families behind for several weeks – or maybe even three months, depending on the depth of the team in the playoffs – during a pandemic is not the only difficulty that the teams face during this restart. Space restrictions within Disney’s quasi-bubble also meant that teams had to reduce their official travel parts to 37 people, including players, so many people who usually travel with a club are not traveling.
“We can’t take everyone – and this stinks, due to the amount of work everyone does every single day,” said Boston coach Brad Stevens. ” We have tried to identify how to be as efficient as possible with people who can be excellent even remotely. I think it’s one of the things we had to identify. In some cases, their distance excellence probably damaged their chances of going initially. ”
As the bubble population shrinks after six teams have been eliminated from the playoff contention and eight more have been kicked out in the post-season first round, teams are expected to get more staff.
But until then, while the teams play on site at Disney, there will be a lot of work done in the domestic markets and also in the domestic arenas. Some teams have left coaches behind for player development, others have even left coaches and all teams have traveled with only one media relations officer and one equipment manager. Under normal circumstances, some teams travel with up to three people to handle media requirements and two for equipment.
Basketball Operations Jeff Weltman said. ''We kind of shied away from some of the language that was being thrown around - the whole idea of essential (staff) and non-essential (staff). It's not about that. This is a very narrowly defined circumstance, and it requires certain skill sets to address this circumstance.''" data-reactid="18">“You know, it’s difficult,” said Jeff Weltman, president of Orlando’s basketball operations. ” We somehow got away from some of the language that was being launched: the idea of essential (personal) and non-essential (personal). This is not about it. This is a very narrowly defined circumstance and requires some skill sets to deal with this circumstance. ”
The players counted against the list of 37, and most teams brought the full complement of 17 players. This left 20 places for coaches, assistant coaches, player development, video, security, strength and conditioning, athletic training, media relations and content creators.
Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said the process of figuring out who’s going and who’s not has been brutal.
“We have already had a model of responsibility sharing by all,” said Spoelstra. ” We have already had a meeting on this in which there is an absolute understanding of the fact that it is a situation “at hand”. And this means bags, linens, cleaning, everything … not only for equipment managers, that’s all: coaches, instructors, staff in the weight room, coach, trainers, we will all be involved in every aspect of it. ”
Oklahoma City coach Billy Donovan also expressed his disappointment at the difficult personnel decisions.
NBA perspective. Keeping the number of people in the bubble manageable is a key part of the NBA's plan for being able to finish the season; the more people in the bubble, the more risk there is of something going wrong." data-reactid="23">Fully understands the perspective of the NBA. Keeping the number of people on the bubble manageable is a key part of the NBA’s plan to end the season; the more people in the bubble, the greater the risk that something will go wrong.
“Everyone deserves the opportunity, but for the safety of the league and the players we can’t do it,” said Donovan. ” So what we have to do is understand, whether it is myself or the assistant coaches, we may have to install video equipment, we may have to have one of our coaches to shoot in Orlando. There are things we will have to do that will be outside the box that we will normally deal with. ”
NOTES: there were 14 teams scheduled for Friday’s practice. All 22 teams are scheduled to practice Saturday, which is probably the first day that each Disney team has passed the initial quarantine and is ready to take the field. … The teams expect jerseys with social justice messages on the back that will arrive next week, even if they will not be worn in the exhibition games that will start on July 22nd. Jerseys with messages like ” Equality ” and ” Black Lives La materia ” will debut when seeding games begin on July 30th. The teams will wear the usual shirts of the regular season in their three shows.
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NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP-Sports" data-reactid="27">Other AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP-Sports
