On Friday morning, the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association officially formalized their return to play plan at the Disney World Campus. On Friday afternoon, both the league and its players acknowledged the growing concern they share about the restart as coronavirus cases in Florida continue to escalate.
And then on Friday evening, they went ahead and released each participating team’s schedule of eight “seeding games” that will effectively serve as a conclusion to the shelved regular season and determine playoff matchups.
The Utah Jazz will actually open up all the games in Orlando on July 30 against the New Orleans Pelicans. After that, they’ll take on the Thunder, Lakers, Grizzlies, Spurs, Nuggets, Mavericks, and the Spurs again.
Of course, just hours before it was revealed who’d be playing who, a cadre of league and union leadership members were discussing how they got to this point, and the risks inherent in going forward.
“We ultimately believe it will be safer on our campus than outside it,” commissioner Adam Silver said. “But the signal we are sending is this is definitely not business as usual. This is far from an ideal way to finish our season, and it will require tremendous sacrifices from all those involved.
“We know that COVID-19 will be with us for the foreseeable future,” he added. “And we are left with no choice but to learn to live with this virus. No options are risk-free right now.”
Still, as positive diagnoses continue to soar — reaching almost 9,000 in Florida’s new tally on Friday alone — there has been growing concern about whether assembling the league’s players and coaches in a coronavirus hotspot is worth the inherent danger.
While Silver conceded that “yes, the level of concern has increased — not just because of the increased levels in Florida, but throughout the country,” he also maintained his belief that the campus bubble, though fallible, is also ultimately the best option.
“My ultimate conclusion is that we can’t outrun the virus, and that this is what we’re gonna be living with for the foreseeable future, which is why we designed the campus the way we did,” Silver said. “It’s a closed network; and while it’s not impermeable, we are in essence protected from cases around us. At least, that’s the model. So for those reasons, we’re still very comfortable being in Orlando.”
This story will be updated.
from The Salt Lake Tribune https://www.sltrib.com/sports/jazz/2020/06/26/utah-jazz-will-play-first/
Post a Comment