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Orlando/Disney Frontrunner to Host NBA

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Orlando/Disney Frontrunner to Host NBA 

Post#1 » by Def Swami » Wed May 20, 2020 5:20 pm

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We're finally seeing some positive momentum to the season re-starting, and a big part of the playoffs could take part at Disney in Orlando.

Credit to Keith Smith, RealGM's own, who first brought the idea to light almost a month ago and it seems like it's finally coming to fruition.

04/16/2020
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Disney has an abundance of hotel rooms on their 39 square-mile property near Orlando, Florida. Two hotels would work particularly well for this type of venture: Disney’s Art of Animation Resort and Disney’s Pop Century Resort. While neither are necessarily the high-end hotels that NBA players are used to staying in, they come with a key perk: Both are located just down the road from the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.

You would also need space for practices. Teams aren’t going to jump right back into the season and just start playing games. They are going to need some form of a mini-training camp leading up to the resumed season. They will also need practice space throughout the remainder of the season.

The ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex can offer all of that.

https://sports.yahoo.com/why-walt-disney-world-would-be-the-ideal-spot-for-the-nba-to-salvage-its-season-142557713.html


It really does seem like a no-brainer. With Disney's abundance of hotels and campus-like structure, it's probably more equipped than any other place to isolate a large number of people and accommodate them comfortably. And IIRC, Disney's Wide World of Sports had a pavilion of about 8 full basketball courts. The NBA, if they wanted to, could run multiple games or practices at one time. I know a lot of high schools and AAU teams do so there.

The biggest hurdle the NBA had to get over was making sure the players were on board, which it appears is the case. Naturally, the NBA and players have to prepare for a player testing positive for COVID19. And for the season to continue, there will have to be an accepted risk that players take and continue to play through while that player who tests positive is out for 14 days. It's the only way this will occur.
05/12/2020
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A lot of states are moving toward "re-opening", which includes in some cases an open endorsement to resume professional sports. Governors of Florida, Texas, New York, and California have gone on record to do so.
05/13/2020
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The Magic were among the first to open their practice facility to players for voluntary workouts 1 week ago. They were able to confirm with the Florida Department of Health that their ability to test players and staff members wouldn't detract from available tests to the public, which from my knowledge has been the main sticking point to restarting the season for the NBA. According to Woj in a past podcast, the NBA has the testing capacity to pull this off. But the PR hit from tests being taken away from the public was a real concern. The Magic cleared that hurdle themselves.
05/14/2020
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At this point, it's not a matter of if we'll see the NBA return, but when and how. Fast forward to today and Walt Disney World is actively making accommodations to host the NBA.
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It would be great to have basketball back. I'll take anything we can get at this point. It'd be a much needed diversion from the pandemic.

And how about the Magic falling backwards into homecourt advantage in the playoffs? :clown:
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Re: Orlando/Disney Frontrunner to Host NBA 

Post#2 » by MagicFan101 » Wed May 20, 2020 5:47 pm

Def Swami wrote:And how about the Magic falling backwards into homecourt advantage in the playoffs?


I hate when people keep bringing this up.

I have been to enough "home games" in Orlando where the audience in 75%+ wearing visitor colors to know that home court does not guarantee you an advantage.

This will be a very very very very special situation and you can be sure no such "home court advantage" will come with the games being played in Orlando.

I wish this were not the case. I have been furious seeing Miami Heat, LA Laker, Boston Celtic and so on fans flood our arena for decades. It just comes with the territory of being a small market team I suppose.
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Re: Orlando/Disney Frontrunner to Host NBA 

Post#3 » by KillMonger » Wed May 20, 2020 5:56 pm

im pretty sure there will be no fans in the stands anyway so.......
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Re: Orlando/Disney Frontrunner to Host NBA 

Post#4 » by Def Swami » Wed May 20, 2020 6:02 pm

I was being facetious about the home court advantage.

There will certainly be no fans in the arenas. They probably won't get to sleep in their own beds at night, but the proximity to their families and home might be the only advantage. It doesn't seem like the NBA's bubble will restrict players or staff who leave it.
MagicFan101 wrote:
Def Swami wrote:And how about the Magic falling backwards into homecourt advantage in the playoffs?


I hate when people keep bringing this up.

I have been to enough "home games" in Orlando where the audience in 75%+ wearing visitor colors to know that home court does not guarantee you an advantage.

This will be a very very very very special situation and you can be sure no such "home court advantage" will come with the games being played in Orlando.

I wish this were not the case. I have been furious seeing Miami Heat, LA Laker, Boston Celtic and so on fans flood our arena for decades. It just comes with the territory of being a small market team I suppose.

Not that I disagree with this sentiment during regular season games against a select set of teams in the league, but to be fair to the Magic fans, they definitely show up in playoff games. I think we've just forgotten what it was like because of the 7 year playoff drought. Having playoff basketball in Orlando last year was refreshing. And a 7 year "relevance" drought is tough to withstand for any small market team.
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Re: Orlando/Disney Frontrunner to Host NBA 

Post#5 » by Def Swami » Wed May 20, 2020 7:49 pm

The prospect of players fully training in mid-June and beginning actual games by mid-July has been the most popular and possible scenario discussed, sources tell Shams Charania and Sam Amick of The Athletic.

https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/258215/Mid-June-Training-Camp-Mid-July-Return-Of-Games-Most-Popular-Possible-Scenario-For-NBA
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Re: Orlando/Disney Frontrunner to Host NBA 

Post#6 » by RookieStar » Wed May 20, 2020 7:57 pm

The only home court advantage we would probably get is the Jersey having the name DISNEY.

Let's look at some things, will there be "homecourt" fans? NO. All the talk has been about playing without audiences except for team staff and probably immediate family members. So unless some of our players have 10kids and multiple wives that would be cheering them on in an otherwise quarter-full arena... then nope.

Home-cooking. Really? They would allow our players to go to their private-personal homes instead of the team assigned hotel area? I don't think so. I would think they would shut the place down and once you come in, you can't get out unless you agree not to come back in until a specific quarantine period.
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Re: Orlando/Disney Frontrunner to Host NBA 

Post#7 » by rcklsscognition » Wed May 20, 2020 8:21 pm

I'd think they'd have to have some sort of Olympics-style athlete village and all players including the Magic have to stay in there.
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Re: Orlando/Disney Frontrunner to Host NBA 

Post#8 » by MagicHolland » Wed May 20, 2020 8:53 pm

If this happens it’s up to Orlando to show the players how great of an organization and city we have :wink:

Recruit, recruit, recruit.. also the NBA needs to gift wrap the first overall draft pick to us for hosting the playoffs :nod:
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Re: Orlando/Disney Frontrunner to Host NBA 

Post#9 » by 3ddman23 » Wed May 20, 2020 10:28 pm

Orlando is so slept on man. With all the big cities in the US. Who would have thought Orlando would be the one to saves from no basketball lol
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Re: Orlando/Disney Frontrunner to Host NBA 

Post#10 » by AdamTheGreek » Thu May 21, 2020 12:10 am

If anyone cares to take a peek, I took a crack at how this season should go along with the playoffs, free agency, draft, the '20-'21 season being shortened, and then a '21 Stern Cup:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/1qmBaY5vTwLusDmAZTtWAKbWT7jPohWR1/edit?usp=docslist_api&filetype=msword

The quicker the NBA gets everyone (these hotels are big enough where they can bring families as well) to Disney World, self-quarantined at their hotels for 14 days, the quicker training camps can begin. The longer they way or allow these teams to actually hold practice, the more at-risk they're actually putting their players, employees, families, etc. An NBA village/campus can be promoted as being safer for the NBA and its families. Tests are available throughout Central Florida. Orange County and the City of Orlando have been overall great throughout this COVID-19 situation (way better than the state and federal governments). As long as the NBA's operations don't prevent health resources from getting to hospitals and medical facilities, they should proceed.

This isn't going away until we're all vaccinated. That's 1-2 years down the road most likely. Is it going to be awkward and will people feel guilty playing while people are getting sick and dying worldwide? Yes. But we all have to work, we see how much federal/state governments are failing. It's on companies and individual entities (like the NBA) to figure it out for their workers. Those of us, myself included, that are fortunate to be able to work remote have been doing it this entire COVID-19 time. I think all of these sports leagues/teams are realizing that if they don't get going again soon, there will be permanent damage to their sport/league that may never see recovery. Billions and hundreds of millions of dollars are at stake for these people now and in the future.

I think you have to have all 30 teams at Disney World because it's very likely they're going to have to do this again come December for the '20-'21 season. So this is a test not just for the next few months, but potentially for the next year or longer.

There's already rumors that they only want to play each team up to 70 regular season games to abide by those lucrative regional sports network tv broadcasting deals. The salary cap we all know is going to shrink, playing these games at leasts helps with that some. I don't recommend that. Some teams have played as few as 63 games, some have played as many as 67 games. That's a sizable gap between playing 3 games, and 7 games. The season stopped March 11th, regular season would've ended April 15th. So you have about a month to finish the regular season (in my plan I spaced it out to 5-6 weeks to allow for more rest, practice, etc.).
If you play to 82 games, the entire regular season is legitimized. You appease the gambling/betting community. You give your teams enough time to find their way and be comfortable in this new campus/village environment before the postseason starts.

The other thing you have to figure out is how long can you keep these people secluded in these hotels and the Wide World of Sports Complex? I think 4-to-5 months, finishing in October so then you can focus on free agency, the Draft, and by November/December you can then re-focus on gearing up for the '20-'21 campaign. The NBA might be thinking a lot less time in the NBA campus/village (3 months). You have to balance that though with not over stressing your athletes' bodies (or you'll run into big problems that happened in the '99 lockout season).

It's all about transparency. All options are not great. You can go to Disney and still have people contract COVID-19. Guess what? People can stay home and still contract COVID-19. If planned correctly, this NBA campus/village can be a safer environment for its players/workers/employees than what they're currently facing now in their home environments. That's my viewpoint anyway.
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Re: Orlando/Disney Frontrunner to Host NBA 

Post#11 » by nymets1 » Thu May 21, 2020 1:51 am

These sports should be playing right now especially ones that are played outdoors(Golf, Tennis, Baseball). We can't play yet at LA fitness or 24 hour La fitness but I think we can go to any outdoor park that has a basketball hoop and not have any issue.
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Re: Orlando/Disney Frontrunner to Host NBA 

Post#12 » by Def Swami » Thu May 21, 2020 2:45 am

rcklsscognition wrote:I'd think they'd have to have some sort of Olympics-style athlete village and all players including the Magic have to stay in there.

The players being isolated to a quarantine bubble is still up for debate from what I understand. The NBA isn't even referring to it as a "bubble" as much anymore and now calling it a "campus", and part of the reason is figuring if they can truly prevent people from leaving that campus. Or whether said player requires any quarantine upon return into the campus if they leave. I don't think this is the case if they have the testing. Said player would probably require testing before entering the campus again. In a podcast last week, Woj mentioned that the NBA has a private company ready to provide the league over 15,000 tests, which is more than enough to pull this off.

There's also some talk of the NBA just having games take place in local arenas like they normally would. Kevin O'Connor of The Ringer mentioned this yesterday that if all the states are opening up and welcoming pro sports, then the "bubble" idea may be moot. MLB and NFL are going forward with games in the stadiums as scheduled. The NBA could go this route too.
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Re: Orlando/Disney Frontrunner to Host NBA 

Post#13 » by drsd » Thu May 21, 2020 6:59 am

Def Swami wrote:It really does seem like a no-brainer. With Disney's ...



... ownership of ESPN and ABC, the broadcasters of NBA games.


Seriously I agree with all your points, but this might just trump everything else.



..
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Re: Orlando/Disney Frontrunner to Host NBA 

Post#14 » by drsd » Thu May 21, 2020 9:28 am

Def Swami wrote:The players being isolated to a quarantine bubble is still up for debate from what I understand. The NBA isn't even referring to it as a "bubble" as much anymore and now calling it a "campus", and part of the reason is figuring if they can truly prevent people from leaving that campus. Or whether said player requires any quarantine upon return into the campus if they leave.


This is PR on "bubble" vs. "campus".

But the enormity of this Disney World physical footprint can allow for a "campus" lifestyle for 1000s of persons, meaning $1000 hamburgers for ultra-rich athletes and their families in full; and all that:
The footprint of the Disney allocation

Every NBA player could be given a 3000 sq foot resort house for the duration; or 10,000 sq foot flats (i.e. a whole floor of a resort hotel spot). Or whatever NBA player-X wants in their bubble/campus lifestyle. That is not an issue.
(( if I was NBA player-X; I might consider camping with the game animals at the Animal Theme park; but that's just me )).

Frankly; Disney can create a walled community for really rich people in a way no others can. Can it offer a training location? No.
So: Amway shuttle buses to and from will be a major feature.


..
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Re: Orlando/Disney Frontrunner to Host NBA 

Post#15 » by drsd » Thu May 21, 2020 2:57 pm

Disney Executive Chairman Bob Iger ... attended the NBA’s remote Board of Governors meeting on April 17.


Hmm.


..
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Re: Orlando/Disney Frontrunner to Host NBA 

Post#16 » by J-Mezzy » Thu May 21, 2020 4:09 pm

Yeah it is a no brainer. I don't know why people are arguing for Vegas. Disney is just the superior choice.
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Re: Orlando/Disney Frontrunner to Host NBA 

Post#17 » by Def Swami » Thu May 21, 2020 11:43 pm

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Re: Orlando/Disney Frontrunner to Host NBA 

Post#18 » by Def Swami » Fri May 22, 2020 3:55 pm

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Re: Orlando/Disney Frontrunner to Host NBA 

Post#19 » by Tarheel » Fri May 22, 2020 4:06 pm

Def Swami wrote:
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This would be sick - I'm 5 hours ahead of EST in the UK so it would literally be games all evening, every evening :)
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Re: Orlando/Disney Frontrunner to Host NBA 

Post#20 » by BDill012 » Fri May 22, 2020 5:42 pm

I like the movement here. Something to get excited about.

I know while I work I would have the games one my second monitor.

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