There are at least 54 NBA players who’ve tested positive for COVID-19, including two who reported for work at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex and left to isolate outside the bubble campus in Orlando, Florida. Malcolm Brogdon, Jabari Parker, Alex Len, Russell Westbrook, Marcus Smart, Rudy Gobert, Donovan Mitchell, Christian Wood and even Kevin Durant (who’s still recovering from injury) are in the list of those infected.
More than 300 players checked in at the 89-hectare campus last July 7. Training started in different team facilities last July 1 and at the Disney complex, workouts reeled off last July 9. Each team is scheduled for three practice games starting July 22 then the regular season will restart on July 30. It won’t be a full regular season as the 22 teams invited to the bubble are playing only eight “seeding” games apiece. The invited teams are the current top eight placers in the East and West plus teams that are six games or less behind the eighth placer in either conference. The cutoff eliminated eight teams outright with five former NBA champions (Golden State, Chicago, Detroit, New York, Cleveland) among the discards.
With the 22 invited teams playing only eight games each before the playoffs begin, some will end up with more or less contests. The LA Lakers, for instance, have played only 63 games to compile a 49-14 record so they’ll finish with 71 in the regular season. The Dallas Mavericks have played 67 games (40-27) so they’ll end up with 75. The disparity isn’t addressed by the seeding process.
Even the seeding schedule is imperfect. The LA Clippers will play the Lakers, Portland and Oklahoma City but none of those teams are in their next eight games in the original regular season schedule, excluding uninvited teams. The only team the Lakers will face in the seeding calendar not in their original next eight games is the Clippers. The Lakers-Clippers game will be one of two to re-open the season on July 30, the other is Utah against New Orleans. In the seeding schedule, there are three seven-game days on Aug. 9 (first game at 12:30 p.m. and last at 9 p.m.), Aug. 11 and Aug. 13.
If the regular season ended today, here are the first round playoff matchups – in the West, No. 1 Lakers vs. No. 8 Memphis, No. 4 Jazz vs. No. 5 Thunder, No. 2 Clippers vs. No. 7 Dallas, No. 3 Denver vs. No. 6 Houston and in the East, No. 1 Milwaukee vs. No. 8 Orlando, No. 4 Miami vs. No. 5 Indiana, No. 2 Toronto vs. No. 7 Philadelphia, No. 3 Boston vs. No. 6 Brooklyn. If Milwaukee and Miami advance, they’ll face off in the second round. The Heat has beaten the Bucks twice this regular season and once without Jimmy Butler. In their second outing, Miami held Milwaukee – the league’s No. 1 offensive team at 118.6 points a game – to 89 and Giannis Antetokounmpo, averaging 29.6, to 13. Coach Erik Spoelstra’s defensive matchup against Giannis is Bam Adebayo but is he COVID-19 positive? The talk is three Heat players are in isolation. If Spoelstra’s rotation isn’t complete, it’ll be a headache for the Heat even though seven Miami players are averaging in twin digits.
Brooklyn was hardest hit by opt-outs and injuries with six players averaging about 80 points at the sidelines. The Nets are bringing in replacements Jamal Crawford, Michael Beasley and Donta Hall but their firepower won’t be enough to offset what they’ve lost. The Lakers’ Rajon Rondo hurt his thumb at practice the other day and will be out from six to eight weeks, meaning he’ll be available only starting the second round of the playoffs. Believe it or not, LeBron James’ former Miami teammate Mario Chalmers applied to be a replacement player but he’s obviously not in tune with the NBA rules. Replacement players may only come from the ranks of those who played in the NBA or NBA G-League last or this season. Chalmers doesn’t qualify as he’s been playing in Italy and Greece.
Media will be restricted to covering the games in the bubble. Only 12 reporters will be accredited to join the bubble with a 72-day residence and watch the games live in the stadium. None will be allowed to leave once inside the campus.
The NBA is doing its best to make the campus stress-free despite the threat of more looming positive cases. Toronto coach Nick Nurse showed up with his guitar. Houston’s PJ Tucker arranged for the delivery of his 85-inch TV in his hotel room and brought 60 pairs of shoes to keep his feet happy. But if more players test positive, will the NBA call off the games? Is there a threshold to signal a closure? Major League Soccer recently reopened in a bubble environment and two teams have already backed out because of danger signals – Dallas with 11 positive cases and Nashville, nine.