NBA Wants To Restart The Season Using Walt Disney World As Sole Venue
The NBA has opened negotiations with Disney World about restarting the 2019-2020 season at Disney's ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Florida.
The NBA, in association with the National Basketball Players Association, has opened negotiations with The Walt Disney Company about restarting the 2019-2020 season at Disney's ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Florida. The move would attempt to wrap up the NBA's regular season, which was postponed indefinitely in March when Utah Jazz player Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19, and possibly bring the championship to a head between the top-seeded Los Angeles Lakers and the Milwaukee Bucks.
NBA Chief Communications Officer Mike Bass released the statement on Twitter today, saying that the NBA is "engaged in exploratory conversations" about restarting the season at Disney "as a single site for an NBA campus for games, practice and housing." No word was offered on how the brackets would be decided, and though some sports fans replied to the tweet with skepticism, others were quick to post celebratory videos of their favorite players like Giannis Antetokounmpo and Lebron James, no doubt hoping to get their basketball fix after such an extended hiatus. Bass finished by saying that they were working on a comprehensive set of measures with health and medical professionals to ensure the safety of everyone involved.
Although ESPN regularly broadcasts classic NBA games, basketball fans haven't had much to look forward to onscreen, aside from ESPN's recent Michael Jordan documentary The Last Dance. And with the passing of Kobe Bryant earlier this year, it's turned out to be a somber season. What remains to be seen is how Disney will respond to the proposal. Walt Disney World already cancelled all reservations for the first week in June, making this pandemic their longest period of closure in history, and although Shanghai Disneyland officially re-opened May 11 (with strict guidelines on entry and mandatory masks), there's no telling when the Florida attraction will decide it's safe to open to the public.
Source: NBA