It is confirmed. The NBA restart plan has finally been given the green light and the project restart will commence on July 30 at the Disneyland Complex in Orlando, Florida.
This piece of NBA 2020 news is sure to bring smiles to the faces of basketball fans all over the world, especially since the league was put into uncharted territory because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Now, it’s just a matter of time that we’ll see some of the top players and teams back into action as they fight for the coveted Larry O’Brien trophy.
But before we get into the festivities in the happiest place on Earth, allow SBOBET to brief you with some key updates around the association.
Several players hesitant if they will play
The league as a whole were busy in hosting numerous zoom calls in the past few weeks in trying to come up with a safe and effective plan for their restart.
Initially, majority of the players have expressed their desire to play given that they miss playing the game and they would want to fight for their NBA 2020 odds of making it to the playoffs.
However, safety remains a concern for these athletes especially since there is no vaccine yet for COVID-19.
In addition, the Black Lives Matter movement has been brought center stage across the United States – which saw numerous players and coaches engaging in peaceful protests to call out the social injustices happening between black people and cops in particular.
Kyrie Irving, Dwight Howard, and Avery Bradley were all hinting at not playing in lieu of the protests since they believe that bringing back the NBA might cause unnecessary distraction that will cover up the real problems happening around the country.
As expected, criticism were hurled towards their way with former players-turned-pundits such as Charles Barkley and Kendrick Perkins disagreeing with their stance.
“I have no idea what Kyrie and Dwight are talking about. But it’ll be a catastrophic mistake not to play. I think it would be stupid not to play,” said Barkley during his recent appearance in ESPN’s Get Up.
“If they don’t play, they’re going to be out of sight, out of mind for the rest of the year. These guys have to realize that this money ain’t gonna come back and they could have used it to go to their own communities and do some great stuff,” he added.
Kendrick Perkins, on the other hand, didn’t mince words towards his former teammate Kyrie Irving.
“He’s showing lack of leadership. Kyrie, you have been on these conference calls and you’re the Vice President of the Players Association. All he’s doing is causing unnecessary drama between the NBA brothers that we don’t need right now,” said Perkins.
“If you take Kyrie Irving’s brain and put it in a bird right now, guess what that bird is going to do? It’s going to fly backwards because Kyrie right now is confused,” he further emphasized.
Like Barkley and Perkins, some players reiterated that they are eager to get back on the court.
“Hoopers say what y’all want. If LeBron James said he hooping, we all hooping. Not personal, only business #StayWoke,” wrote Patrick Beverley on his Twitter account the other day.
With the teams set to leave to go to Disneyland soon, players will be given ample time to decide on whether they’ll join or not.
League office provides additional initiatives for contact tracing
In a bid for a successful restart, the league opted to go the unconventional yet advanced route in order to make sure that the players feel safe inside Disneyland.
Everyone in the bubble is expected to undergo daily tests for COVID-19, and strict measures are to be implemented in order to avoid any more cases.
Other than the usual social distancing and face mask measures, the league will give the players an option to wear an Oura smart ring to help detect for any COVID-19 symptoms.
The Oura smart ring is believed to be 90-per cent accurate and it can predict any symptoms up to three days in advance.
In addition, players inside the bubble would be required to wear a Disney Magic Band as their entry point in going through checkpoints and into their respective rooms. The band will help the league office track their daily movement as well.
If there will be violators on the NBA’s rules and relegations, an anonymous hotline is set up for individuals to report on these infractions.
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