NBA - The Re-Open: - Connaughton has Covid-19, pg. 94

[craig]

...
Because the health of everyone involved is more important? You can't believe anyone is rooting for that?

I see three health-related factors:
1. Location Orlando: unfavorable, given that Florida is hot spot.

2. Basketball proximity and exposure: Players close, breathing heavily.

3. Relative no-season, no-bubble risk. There will be risk within the bubble, and if a happy ending depends on zero cases within the bubble, the odds don't seem very good. But there is health risk for players outside the bubble as well. As team testing shows, the rate of Covid-positive players outside the bubble is non-trivial. So it's not necessarily obvious that the risk of incurring Covid is significantly higher inside the bubble than outside, or the risk of receiving inadequate care.
*factors 1 and 2 would certainly argue that playing mask-free basketball is makes the risk worse, and that housing the bubble in Orlando makes the risk worse.
*But daily testing, the 100+ page protocols manual, and the bubbling itself all work to reduce risk.

So it may be that in terms of relative risk to themselves, that players MIGHT actually be comparably safe, almost as safe, or perhaps even a bit safer in the bubble relative to living life at home?

[emunney]

Whichever team wins the whole shebang this year will have an asterisk next to their name almost the size of the Houston Astros'.

How does this make sense at all?

It's only going to be the case if a lot of players end up missing time. Otherwise they're all just competing. The biggest difference will be that there's no HCA.

Like everybody else is saying, if this isn't a real bubble, where everybody who's inside has been through the same protocols, then everything they're doing with players and staff right now and everybody in those groups strictly adhering to the plan is a lot less meaningful in terms of the binary question of whether there will be an outbreak in the bubble or not.

It's still better than not doing it, of course, but the fact is if you've got 100 Orange County randos in a room, chances are one or more of them is infectious. That's especially concerning given the recent letter to the WHO by all the epi folks asserting airborne transmission.

Also seems to me this should have been started 2-4 before team facilities reopened and players, staff, and their families should all have been in league and NBPA mandated isolation since then, but late action seems to be the theme across the board here so *throws up hands so hard my shoulders both dislocate*.

[MartyConlonOnTheRun]

There is only an asterisk if multiple top players get it. If Giannis and KL or James are going after each other in the finals, people are gonna look foolish with the asterisk talk. (I will look foolish when its Boston versus a Zion-less Pelicans.)

[humanrefutation]

Positive tests are not, in and of themselves, a huge problem for the restart. With the increasing testing protocols, there was a 100% guarantee that you were going to have positive tests before the teams left for the bubble. The only real concern is whether the positive tests will happen AFTER the players enter the bubble and are free to move around among one another. That's the worst case scenario - clusters forming that kneecaps entire teams.

[Thunder Muscle]

Can't believe any true Bucks fan is rooting for a shut down of the season right now. Waited my whole damn life for this opportunity and can't understand those ready to already pull the parachute.

Because whatever they say or do, the winner of this exhibition tourney they’re throwing out there with almost nba teams vs almost nba teams has close to nothing to do with the season we lost back in March. Guys are opting out. Guys are going down with Covid. There’s no fans. There’s no home court or playoff intensity.

If the Bucks win this exhibition tournament, cool. It’s not a title. As a fan, I almost would rather not see them win it. An empty arena celebration. A virtual parade. All sounds lame AF and certainly anti climatic. It sucks to lose a season, but it’s done. It’s lost. Only thing that will come from this is annoying never ending arguments on twitter and other mediums for the rest of time between the team that wins’ fans and everyone else on if this “championship” should have an asterisk or not.

This x1000. Yes I've waited a long time to be a legit title contender but agree with the above it's been lost. I dont know how anybody can argue there wont be an asterisk to this all. The season was shortened, everything is on a neutral site, players are going to drop out, etc. And even if stars dont, role players likely will. The only reason this is going on is for the leagues to try to salvage some money not to find a true champ. There wont be a true champ, it's an exhibition crapshoot playoff at this point with a hint of survivor in that hopefully your team can make it through in one piece.

And this before you get into the true health and safety of everyone involved. This will be a disaster if some 60 year old coach or executive passes away due to acquiring COVID in the "bubble".

[tski1972]

MLB teams can’t even get there their test results back in three days. Imagine this happening while trying to play games.

[paulpressey25]

MLB teams can’t even get there their test results back in three days. Imagine this happening while trying to play games.

NBA has partnered with one of the drug companies. I think they'll they'll some pretty fast testing once situated in Orlando.

[MartyConlonOnTheRun]

Can't believe any true Bucks fan is rooting for a shut down of the season right now. Waited my whole damn life for this opportunity and can't understand those ready to already pull the parachute.

Because whatever they say or do, the winner of this exhibition tourney they’re throwing out there with almost nba teams vs almost nba teams has close to nothing to do with the season we lost back in March. Guys are opting out. Guys are going down with Covid. There’s no fans. There’s no home court or playoff intensity.

If the Bucks win this exhibition tournament, cool. It’s not a title. As a fan, I almost would rather not see them win it. An empty arena celebration. A virtual parade. All sounds lame AF and certainly anti climatic. It sucks to lose a season, but it’s done. It’s lost. Only thing that will come from this is annoying never ending arguments on twitter and other mediums for the rest of time between the team that wins’ fans and everyone else on if this “championship” should have an asterisk or not.

This x1000. Yes I've waited a long time to be a legit title contender but agree with the above it's been lost. I dont know how anybody can argue there wont be an asterisk to this all. The season was shortened, everything is on a neutral site, players are going to drop out, etc. And even if stars dont, role players likely will. The only reason this is going on is for the leagues to try to salvage some money not to find a true champ. There wont be a true champ, it's an exhibition crapshoot playoff at this point with a hint of survivor in that hopefully your team can make it through in one piece.

And this before you get into the true health and safety of everyone involved. This will be a disaster if some 60 year old coach or executive passes away due to acquiring COVID in the "bubble".

You also have to add some pros in there.
-Neutral home court/no travel. Makes the games more fair. No cross country trips and timezone differences that effect the schedule. If HCA effects the game/refs, is that always a good thing? Do people complain about HCA at the super bowl or during the NCAA tourney?
-A lot of guys are rested and healthier. Davis and others have stated they are in better shape. Old guys like Lebron won't have the wear and tear of 82 games. Giannis wan't playing through March injuries, etc.
-Are the players/coaches/execs safer outside the bubble? I don't know enough on the details but hopefully the testing results are quick and protocols are in place. I went to our manufacturer, and they put in place temperature checks, spacing in cafeteria, etc and haven't had one case. Florida has 22m people and is,well, Florida, and they have 120k cases. Yes, it is growing exponentially but this was also due to barbeques, protests, people at clubs, and people refusing to wear masks. Hopefully, the NBPA has some kind of agreement in place where players can be fined for risky behavior.

[RogerMurdock]

Let's hope the apparent difference in this virus from earlier this year to now is real. Despite all the positive test cases, the deaths just don't seem to be following after weeks of predicted spikes. The CDC is nearing the threshold where it will remove the classification of Covid-19 as a pandemic. That's where my hope rests that not only will this season be completed, but also that the worst is behind us as a species. For some reason you never hear the daily death totals anywhere anymore but I think many of you would be shocked at the current numbers. Down 93% from the peak and have been declining for 10 straight weeks.

Deaths lag several weeks behind confirmed cases.

[emunney]

Let's hope the apparent difference in this virus from earlier this year to now is real. Despite all the positive test cases, the deaths just don't seem to be following after weeks of predicted spikes. The CDC is nearing the threshold where it will remove the classification of Covid-19 as a pandemic. That's where my hope rests that not only will this season be completed, but also that the worst is behind us as a species. For some reason you never hear the daily death totals anywhere anymore but I think many of you would be shocked at the current numbers. Down 93% from the peak and have been declining for 10 straight weeks.

Deaths lag several weeks behind confirmed cases.

Also the median age of infections has been way down -- if/as the youngs infect their older contacts we could see another wave of deaths. Also true that treatment is improving, but I think we need to focus less on deaths and more on the short-medium-long term impacts on moderate-to-severe cases that pull through but are left [in some cases] debilitated for months or maimed. We need a comprehensive survey of covid survivors to understand the scope of the issues we'll be dealing with for the foreseeable future.

[paulpressey25]

Just waiting for our intrepid reporting crew to note who tested positive on Friday. This tension between contact tracing and medical privacy is a tough one. Since the individual name is not out yet, have to assume the Bucks believe there would be some negative backlash.

[MartyConlonOnTheRun]

Let's hope the apparent difference in this virus from earlier this year to now is real. Despite all the positive test cases, the deaths just don't seem to be following after weeks of predicted spikes. The CDC is nearing the threshold where it will remove the classification of Covid-19 as a pandemic. That's where my hope rests that not only will this season be completed, but also that the worst is behind us as a species. For some reason you never hear the daily death totals anywhere anymore but I think many of you would be shocked at the current numbers. Down 93% from the peak and have been declining for 10 straight weeks.

Deaths lag several weeks behind confirmed cases.

Also the median age of infections has been way down -- if/as the youngs infect their older contacts we could see another wave of deaths. Also true that treatment is improving, but I think we need to focus less on deaths and more on the short-medium-long term impacts on moderate-to-severe cases that pull through but are left [in some cases] debilitated for months or maimed. We need a comprehensive survey of covid survivors to understand the scope of the issues we'll be dealing with for the foreseeable future.

Yeah, NBA players have seemed to make a full recovery so far, but as someone relying on peak physical fitness, any lung scarring is a career death blow.

[MickeyDavis]

Yup. Deaths are one thing. Long-term affects, in particular with the lungs, are unknown and won't be known for a long, long time.

[FlagsFlyForever]

Just waiting for our intrepid reporting crew to note who tested positive on Friday. This tension between contact tracing and medical privacy is a tough one. Since the individual name is not out yet, have to assume the Bucks believe there would be some negative backlash.

It could be a janitor for all we know and it's just the Bucks being the Bucks. They are a secretive organization as a matter of policy and are rarely transparent about anything (injury updates, trade rumors, locker room kerfuffles, etc).

[chonestown]

From March onwards, actual cases have grown faster than anticipated, government response has been more lacking than hoped, corporate accountability has been more threadbare and the ability of the general public to follow recommended guidelines has been overstated. I expect these trends to continue until they do not. The NBA season and its actors are not immune to these factors.

[paulpressey25]

It could be a janitor for all we know and it's just the Bucks being the Bucks. They are a secretive organization as a matter of policy and are rarely transparent about anything (injury updates, trade rumors, locker room kerfuffles, etc).

Can't see that. Jabari, Malcolm, etc. all were public with their positive test results. If it were a janitor, they'd tell that to Woj asap and get it out there.

[crkone]

Read on Twitter

[chuckleslove]

MLB teams can’t even get there their test results back in three days. Imagine this happening while trying to play games.

This is pretty amazing to me. The machine that you need for rapid testing is around $10,000 and then you need swabs and chemicals and a nurse or two to stick a swab up people's noses. I don't understand how they don't have rapid testing at every single site.

I'm sure the NBA in Orlando does have rapid testing but I don't know why individual teams didn't also get it, such a small cost in the big picture and they already have doctors and medical staff that should know how to administer a swab test. It's normally nurses or even CNAs that do that over doctors and I don't know who the teams have in building and not but I know they have a whole medical team on staff.

[Chuck Diesel]

Read on Twitter

Thabo told Swiss media that multiple Rockets were positive, which influenced his decision to withdraw from the team.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/rocketswire.usatoday.com/2020/07/05/report-thabo-sefolosha-says-some-rockets-players-had-covid-19/amp/

[JayMKE]

I'm wondering how many NBA players that have actually tested positive have shown symptoms and what the antibody tests say. There have likely been far far more cases of corona earlier on than could have ever been tested, the biggest increase of positives right now are people in their 20s who they just straight up weren't testing a few months ago unless showing some real severe symptoms.