Magic CEO: NBA to play 'all day long' at Disney World relaunch
The coronavirus robbed us of March Madness.
But it sounds like we’ll get our all-day basketball fix when the NBA relaunches at Disney World. That is, of course, if Florida’s COVID-19 spike doesn’t force the NBA to reconsider its plans.
Basketball ‘all day long’
The NBA hasn’t yet released a schedule for its planned late July relaunch. But Orlando Magic CEO Alex Martins told Orange County officials on Wednesday to expect games to be played “all day long” once they begin.
According to Yahoo Sports contributor Keith Smith, that will look like two to three games a day in each of the three arenas hosting games at the Disney complex. Martins vowed that there will be a “stringent sanitation” process in between each game.
How the schedule will look once the playoffs begin is unclear. The NBA has invited 22 teams to Disney World to finish a truncated regular season and settle the 16-team playoff field. Each team will play eight regular-season games starting July 30 with the season scheduled to end on Aug. 14.
That adds up to about six games per day spread across three arenas — which means the potential for wall-to-wall basketball if the league chooses to stagger games before the playoffs begin sometime between Aug. 15-17.
Will the NBA be able to play?
And again. This all depends on things going as planned. With Florida setting daily records for COVID-19 cases after relaxing social distancing guidelines, players, team executives and league officials are all reportedly concerned about the safety of the league’s relaunch.
Meanwhile, health experts are confirming that yes, the NBA should be worried.
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