With the NBA having spent more than $100 million to build its campus in Orlando, the sanctity and security of the so-called “bubble” has been discussed quite a bit.
The league has reportedly opened up a hotline for people within the bubble to report others who are breaking rules, and at least two players have been “sentenced” to mandatory quarantines after leaving the confines of the campus.
Despite those facts — and despite the fact that the State of Florida continues to be the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic — according to The Athletic’s Sam Amick, the NBA is expanding the number of team personnel permitted to enter.
Specifically, according to Amick, team governors and team scouts will be permitted to spectate beginning with the seeding games that are to begin on July 30.
All entrants into the bubble, of course, must return a negative result from a COVID-19 test, though. And all entrants will only have access to the arenas where games will be played, meaning no personal contact with players.
The league sent a memo to teams this week saying that team governors would be permitted to attend seeding games and that the eight teams not fielding teams in Orlando can send representatives to scout games when the season restarts on July 30, league sources told The Athletic.
Despite the allowance, the number of NBA teams willing to send personnel remains to be seen. The lack of in-person meetings limits the intel that can be gathered, and the risk of exposure to the COVID-19 while in Florida and staying in an off-site hotel may outweigh the benefit.
Still, teams do have the option, and it stands to reason that, at a minimum, the league is confident that it can loosen some of the restrictions of its bubble while keeping its players safe.