After teams are eliminated from contention in Orlando, their players can utilize home team facilities for voluntary workouts if they’re under contract, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets. The NBA will allow up to four players at a time at the facility with one staff member per individual workout. Coronavirus testing will be optional and the teams would have to foot the bill for those tests, Charania adds.
We have more notes from the Disney World complex:
- Being confined to the Orlando campus has become an increasingly difficult challenge for the players, according to The Associated Press’ Brian Mahoney. The players have become more stressed in the playoffs and can’t get away from the unique atmosphere. “We don’t get to go home. We don’t get to be away from basketball, even for a few hours,” Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo said. “If things were normal, we’d be back home playing in our home court and after the game we’d go home. … You’re just comfortable. But now it just feels like we’re always at work. You cannot escape basketball.”
- The league has reported five consecutive rounds of no positive tests but there’s concern about what will happen when guests arrive in Orlando after the first round of the playoffs, ESPN’s Baxter Holmes notes. Via guidelines established by the league and the Players’ Association, each player will be allowed to bring in four guests — and they can exceed that figure for children. Those guests can travel on team charters following coronavirus testing. The earliest clearance date for guests to enter the bubble itself would be August 31.
- In case you missed it, commissioner Adam Silver said late last week that the start of next season would likely be moved beyond the previous projected date of December 1.
