Woj: Some Players getting cold feet about playing in Orlando

[twyzted]

I can tell you with 100% certainty that the NBA did not consider playing in a bubble outside of the United States. Not sure where Iceland came from, but that wasn't a thing.

I can also tell you that only three sites were under any sort of serious consideration: Walt Disney World, Las Vegas and Houston. Houston came in too late and Las Vegas had way too many concerns to be worked through. What landed the NBA at WDW is that WDW is private property and can restrict access far easier than anywhere else can.

It was in the news over here. They did contact the basketball association over here

iceland had the opportunity to be the center of the NBA league's return to basketball after COVID-19.

As with other professional teams in the United States, the NBA has looked for ways to get the race back after suspending because of corona virus.

The conclusion is almost clear that the NBA team will probably play in the Disney park in Florida State.

According to Sports Department sources, formal discussions took place between the NBA's defending team and the Basketball Association of Iceland.

The NBA was considering bringing their teams to the country and playing some of the remaining games here. That would have meant that the team had come to Iceland with all their players, employees and coaches and stayed in Icelandic hotels.

Hannes S. Jónsson, chairman of the KKÍ, confirmed in a conversation with the Sports Department that formal communication had taken place between the union and the NBA. He did not want to comment on the matter otherwise.

NBA manager Adam Silver is a forward-thinking and innovative guy. It was he who participated in the talks with the Basketball Association of Iceland.

The relationship between Iceland and the NBA has been very good over the years. Channel 2 was one of the first television stations in the world outside the United States to broadcast live from the NBA.

David Stern, who is considered by many to be the most important manager of the NBA, was a admirer of iceland and he and Einar Bollason, who announced NBA games in previous years on Icelandic television, were in good contact.

The idea of ​​continuing the game in the NBA has revolved around the teams staying in similar places in the so-called "bubble". The idea of ​​having the "bubble" in Iceland was formally debated, but in the end the NBA board decided not to go beyond the US.

Heres a link to the article its in icelandic but google will translate it but the text above is google translated article. I fixed some wording in it so it would be easier to understand.

I dont know how serious those discussion were but i highly doubt the chairman would lie about this.

They may have reached out to the NBA, but so did about 25 other places. The NBA may have politely listened to their proposal. But the NBA did not seriously consider it, nor did they reach out.

I'd put this about somewhere as close to being taken serious as the idea of playing on cruise ships was.

Ok fair enough maybe the icelandic bball association reached out, this was the only link i found about this when i googled it earlier. I just find it odd that adam silver was involved if this was them reaching out to nba.
I found a topic about this on facebook group and a guy who seems to be connected to nba people said that this was true. But i it doesnt matter either way.

But where could one find that podcast i saw someone ask you about in another reply?

[The Duke]

Short term sure. But over the next 4-5 years a drop of a few key valuable players hurts the league's quality overall and popularity could drop (hard to say if it does or doesn't). A 12th man replacing a 6th man is a HUGE drop off for a playoff team though. That's very easily the difference in a title or not many years. I know fans focus on the stars, but there have been countless titles that would have swung had key bench players not been available.

Who is taking about 4-5 years?
I'm taking about the next 5 months.
Also the nba cars less about how individual teams perform, and more about ratings watching the games (even if a 3rd best player gets replaced with a 12th man)

Well next 5 months, it's a short term amount of money. i'm sure they care, but the nba needs to and I think historically has, thought long term.

i fall to see how a handful of players who miss this year (thru their own decision) and than play the next season, hurts the league long term.

[Teal25]

Oh please if they can have their side chicks there it wouldn’t be an issue. Such drama queens.

[dhsilv2]

Who is taking about 4-5 years?
I'm taking about the next 5 months.
Also the nba cars less about how individual teams perform, and more about ratings watching the games (even if a 3rd best player gets replaced with a 12th man)

Well next 5 months, it's a short term amount of money. i'm sure they care, but the nba needs to and I think historically has, thought long term.

i fall to see how a handful of players who miss this year (thru their own decision) and than play the next season, hurts the league long term.

If that's all that happens then sure. Many are asking for harsher penalties or discussions of this "bubble" system going long term with covid fear.

[Smitty731]

It was in the news over here. They did contact the basketball association over here



Heres a link to the article its in icelandic but google will translate it but the text above is google translated article. I fixed some wording in it so it would be easier to understand.

I dont know how serious those discussion were but i highly doubt the chairman would lie about this.

They may have reached out to the NBA, but so did about 25 other places. The NBA may have politely listened to their proposal. But the NBA did not seriously consider it, nor did they reach out.

I'd put this about somewhere as close to being taken serious as the idea of playing on cruise ships was.

Ok fair enough maybe the icelandic bball association reached out, this was the only link i found about this when i googled it earlier. I just find it odd that adam silver was involved if this was them reaching out to nba.
I found a topic about this on facebook group and a guy who seems to be connected to nba people said that this was true. But i it doesnt matter either way.

But where could one find that podcast i saw someone ask you about in another reply?

NBA Front Office Show is the name. We record once a week right now. The relaunch has been all focused on the return to play, but usually we do roster deep dives and talk transactions and things like that.

[BladeDaywalker]

Why do people on here think that the players are just complaining when there are legitimate issues to be dealt with?

Just look at the NFL as an example. John Harbaugh has already come out and stated that the NFL has an unrealistic expectation of social distancing and how the teams can prepare during training camp:

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[jackman]

I run a school with about 100 teachers. We are online now, but in August we will be back on campus. If a teacher says "even with the safety precautions, I don't feel safe in returning" I would find a new teacher and let that one go. Sorry, but that's the way it is. Why are these guys different?

The pool of teachers available in any given metropolitan city is immensely greater than the ~500 players actively on an nba roster. I can only agree with your comparison for players 12-15th that get little to no playing time.

Can you easily replace a Lillard? No

Your teacher comparison is infinitely different because
1) pool size to choose from
2) all teachers are treated equal in their ability to teach..there's no tiers of teachers
3) they are all paid from the same scale (generally years of experience)

I think his comparison is fine. Yes it’s hard to find a guy off the street to replace someone like Lillard, but the next star up can slide into his role eventually and then it all trickles down to there being an “opening” for who is essentially the worst player in the league.

Same thing happens w/ a teacher. Highly paid veteran teacher doesn’t want to teach, they leave and eventually down the line some substitue teacher or recent college grad gets a full time position.

If going to work w/ the risk of covid is a requirement for your job, and you aren’t willing to do that, it’s just a reality that you can’t do that job anymore. Find a different job where you can work at home and let someone else take your place. It isn’t the responsibility of every employer in America to accept and keep paying workers who won’t come to work.

The risk of catching a virus when you go out was always there.

All I'm trying to convey is that NBA is entertainment and that the comparison is not the same because we are talking about the best of the best of teachers, and not 100 teachers in any given school. You can 'literally' replace whichever NBA player that fails to show up, but the impact on the team/product is felt much more than a school replacing one teacher.

For the record, I'm for players not being paid if they choose not to play - but I understand the decline in quality of the product will be VERY evident once stars/superstars are replaced. Replace one or a bunch of teachers? Not as much..

[dhsilv2]

Was there really no other place to do this? How much of this was throwing a bone to ESPN's parent conglomerate versus actual logistical concerns?

I feel like if they truly put personnel health first, they wouldn't be doing this in such a stupid state where the citizens have been roaming freely since early on yet if a player or hell, camera person steps outside they're at risk of losing their job.

Name a more isolated place with the ability to stage that many games and house that many people while keeping them isolated from the rest of the world? I'm not sure that other place exists.

Salt Lake City/Park City, Utah. They made an Olympic Village once, they could have done it again. Place is practically socially distanced to begin with.

They could have stayed a 5-star resorts, played golf at country clubs, had their own private buses, and played at 3+ basketball arenas.

Something tells me talking 300+ nba players and another 300+ coaches, trainers, refs, etc that they'll be spending 3 months in utah might have been a deal breaker.

[bondom34]

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[LukasBMW]

Can you blame the players for wanting more details?

1. Covid19 isn't as deadly as we initially thought, but it is still a big risk. The fact that KAT's mom just passed away from it is probably fresh in everyone's mind. I'm sure many others in the NBA have had someone they know die from Covid.

2. It's a big commitment to stay in the bubble for 60-90 days. Most of us were going crazy under quarantine after 2 weeks.

3. Even if the players are not at risk due to being in shape and having low BMI's, exposure to other family members who might be at risk is possible.

4. Covid19 is unpredictable. It doesn't seem to be a risk for young and healthy people with low BMI's, but it's not out of the possibility that an NBA player could still have serious complications or death. Some players are closer to 40 and some have high BMI's. There is also the question about how blood type plays a role (type A blood people might be at a higher risk).

I'd love to see basketball return, but I understand players being concerned. They have a right to choose what they are comfortable with.

[Nate505]

Name a more isolated place with the ability to stage that many games and house that many people while keeping them isolated from the rest of the world? I'm not sure that other place exists.

Salt Lake City/Park City, Utah. They made an Olympic Village once, they could have done it again. Place is practically socially distanced to begin with.

They could have stayed a 5-star resorts, played golf at country clubs, had their own private buses, and played at 3+ basketball arenas.

Something tells me talking 300+ nba players and another 300+ coaches, trainers, refs, etc that they'll be spending 3 months in utah might have been a deal breaker.

Their loss. I can't imagine anyone would rather spend a summer in Orlando than Park City.

[Zombiesonics]

Many nba players have asthma, there seems to be risk for a major disaster here if things go poorly, IE star player is put on a ventilator because we wanted to re-continue the season amidst another wave of covid (Look at the data). Now reading disney employees dont have to abide by any protocol? wtf?

Any smart person i listen to or talk to think the nba is putting a lot of people at risk right now that dont need to be.

[Jazz9]

"Florida just had its biggest one-day spike in new COVID-19 cases"
https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2020/06/11/florida-just-had-its-biggest-one-day-spike-in-new-covid-19-cases

[nzahir]

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Wtf are we doing?

They need to also be in the bubble

Pay the workers a lot more and allow them to bring family

It’s 3ish months, we have basically just done that during these stay at home orders

[dhsilv2]

Salt Lake City/Park City, Utah. They made an Olympic Village once, they could have done it again. Place is practically socially distanced to begin with.

They could have stayed a 5-star resorts, played golf at country clubs, had their own private buses, and played at 3+ basketball arenas.

Something tells me talking 300+ nba players and another 300+ coaches, trainers, refs, etc that they'll be spending 3 months in utah might have been a deal breaker.

Their loss. I can't imagine anyone would rather spend a summer in Orlando than Park City.

Utah, I'm sure is a wonderful place. But the racial issues alone I think would be a tough sell, especially in this current environment. It's mostly about optics, not reality here.

[dhsilv2]

Wtf are we doing?

They need to also be in the bubble

Pay the workers a lot more and allow them to bring family

It’s 3ish months, we have basically just done that during these stay at home orders

I think you may have made the counter point to all this working out. People HAVE just spent 3 months kinda locked down...who wants to keep doing this?

[jpengland]

This has the potential to get ugly, very quickly.

Florida infection rates are on the rise, Disney employees are going to be in contact with a LOT of people come mid July.

This has, unfortunately, disaster written all over it. One image of an asthmatic player on a ventilator or the death of anyone in the bubble and the NBA is screwed.

[Jordan45822]

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[Pharmcat]

Can you blame the players for wanting more details?

1. Covid19 isn't as deadly as we initially thought, but it is still a big risk. The fact that KAT's mom just passed away from it is probably fresh in everyone's mind. I'm sure many others in the NBA have had someone they know die from Covid.

2. It's a big commitment to stay in the bubble for 60-90 days. Most of us were going crazy under quarantine after 2 weeks.

3. Even if the players are not at risk due to being in shape and having low BMI's, exposure to other family members who might be at risk is possible.

4. Covid19 is unpredictable. It doesn't seem to be a risk for young and healthy people with low BMI's, but it's not out of the possibility that an NBA player could still have serious complications or death. Some players are closer to 40 and some have high BMI's. There is also the question about how blood type plays a role (type A blood people might be at a higher risk).

I'd love to see basketball return, but I understand players being concerned. They have a right to choose what they are comfortable with.

Don't forget the long-term lung damage some people are getting ...sure atheletes can beat the virus but if their lungs get some scarring their future athletic performance will be in jeopardy

[Pharmcat]

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This all could have been avoided if nba had pandemic insurance like wimbledon and Olympics did. All these sports league that did not carry this insurance should fire the risk assessment departments