Besides a clear need for COVID-19 mitigation protocols, one of many other challenges for the NBA’s “bubble” site near Orlando is keeping players comfortable in the same hotel for weeks and possibly months.
Staying within the Disney complex is a crucial component of the league’s plan to minimize virus exposure for players and staff, and one of the easiest ways to pass time off the basketball court is by sleeping.
As for that goal, there is one problem: Most hotel rooms aren’t designed for extremely tall basketball players. Fortunately, the NBA and its partner hotels are developing a solution in time for the July restart.
According to MickeyBlog.com, custom mattresses were brought in this past weekend to the Grand Floridian. That’s the resort hotel where the Houston Rockets are staying, along with seven other NBA teams including the Oklahoma City Thunder and Dallas Mavericks.
Here’s the details on the player beds from MickeyBlog.com, with several photos available via the blog post:
According to our sources, the mattresses are bigger than King and California King and measure 96 inches. They needed to be ordered specially for the players. … The bed frames for these large mattresses had to be custom made.
EXCLUSIVE: Enormous Beds Being Brought to Grand Floridian for NBA Players https://t.co/OEZX6AVK67
— MickeyBlog (@MickeyBlog_) June 27, 2020
Microwaves were also brought in for each NBA room, presumably aimed at reducing any temptation to roam about in search of food.
“All of the rooms are being retrofitted, and when the NBA season is over at the Walt Disney World Resort, the customized furnishings will be liquidated,” MickeyBlog.com writes.
According to the report, the NBA has 96 rooms at Gran Destino Tower at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort; 96 rooms at the Yacht Club; and 163 rooms at the Grand Floridian that are being adjusted for players.
The Rockets are scheduled to arrive at the Grand Floridian next Thursday, July 9, with team practices beginning two days later. All NBA personnel who enter the “bubble” site will self-isolate in their hotel rooms until twice testing negative for COVID-19, with each test 24 hours apart.
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Beginning July 22, the Rockets will be allowed to play three scrimmages against other opponents who are also staying at the Grand Floridian. The league is segmenting teams by hotel to minimize potential COVID-19 exposure, should there be a positive test result.
Houston’s 2019-20 regular season will then resume on July 31.
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