On March 11, the NBA season went into an indefinite hiatus. The novel coronavirus had hit the league and it caused a lot of disruption for everybody involved. There was still a season to finish though and commissioner Adam Silver had to figure out a way to safely return to play in the middle of a pandemic.
Months and months went by and it was filled with looking at data from scientists and input from managing partners, players, and general managers. After a few months, the league agreed on a bubble idea inside of Disney World to have 22 teams resume the season and get back at it. There would be no fans and there would be tons of safety measurements to be implemented.
On Friday, the Philadelphia 76ers played in their first scrimmage game of the restart and coach Brett Brown was impressed with how the bubble has worked and how it has been great for his players to get back in the swing of things and being competitive again.
“Just to see the guys and watch the interactions in the locker room, everybody can’t believe how spectacular the NBA has been on pulling this off to date,” said Brown pregame on Friday. “It is just wildly efficient, wildly professional, and so all those things equal a sense of familiarity with what we have been used to. Our guys feel it and we’re excited to go play again.”
The team’s neuromuscular therapist, Doris Matel, also was impressed with the way the bubble is set up. After all of the work she has to perform on the players after practice and helping them recover from long arduous practices, she enjoys her set up at her hotel with the balcony and the fishing that’s available.
She told Mark Medina of USA Today:
It’s great here. The setup is pretty cool and I like our hotel. We have a balcony, so there was access to getting outside even when we were in quarantine. We have a restaurant open for breakfast and dinner. We have food three to four times during the day and snacks are available, so we have everything we need. Life on the campus is better than I expected. I prepared myself for the worst. I was really surprised by the effort the NBA gave to give us a sense of normalcy. It’s been a pretty good experience on my part. I’ve gone to one fishing trip. I don’t fish unless I know I’m going to eat the fish I’m going to catch.
The bubble appears to be working as there have been zero positive cases reported by the NBA since bubble life began in early July. One can only hope that remains to be the case and they can safely finish the season. [lawrence-related id=35458,35449,35400]