The NBA’s impending return later this summer in Orlando, Florida at Disney’s Wide World of Sports has been approved by the NBA and NBPA, with some pending negotiations taking place this week regarding some financials and, most notably, how they will schedule the 2020-21 season.
The timeline for this season’s return is set, with teams going to Orlando in early July for a quarantine period before beginning practices and scrimmages, with games in the 8-game run to the playoffs starting on July 31. Then there will be a play-in tournament in the West, followed by a regular postseason with seven-game series throughout. One of the big questions facing the NBA’s return has been testing for the novel coronavirus, as it remains the great unknown right now — and Florida is experiencing a spike in cases following the state’s reopening.
On Monday, The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor offered up some insight into the testing that will happen, as well as the protocols for a positive test or a player leaving the bubble — and how teams will be able to adjust rosters if a positive test happens.
If a player tests positive, they will need to quarantine for at least 10 days and have two negative tests before rejoining their team. The same is true if a player leaves the league’s Disney World campus, which will be closed off to the public. If a player leaves and returns, they will need to quarantine for at least 10 days and test negative twice before rejoining.
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Playoff rosters will be finalized after the eight regular-season games, or “seeding games.” Once the postseason begins, only players who test positive for COVID-19 could be replaced, and only by two-way players. If a player suffers an injury, they can’t be replaced. Free agents can’t be signed at this time, no differently than any normal postseason.
This answers at least some of the questions posited about what happens for a positive test, and also shows how the league will enforce keeping players in the bubble. They are free to leave, but would have to sit out 10 days and have two negative tests to return. Still, the big question lingering over all of this is what happens if there is an outbreak on a team that impacts a number of players. Adam Silver wasn’t exactly forthcoming when asked about that on Inside the NBA, simply noting they can continue if there is a positive test, but not indicating the protocol for an outbreak within an organization and whether that would shut things down or simply cause that team to pull out of the postseason.
The hope, of course, is that we never have to answer that question and positive tests are limited, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility and it’s something to keep an eye on. Beyond that, teams will surely be being extra careful with star players interactions, as replacing a LeBron or Giannis with a two-way player in the playoffs would significantly alter the proceedings.