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NBA returns ... to Disney World
After nearly five months of hiatus amidst the coronavirus pandemic, the NBA's 2019-20 season is officially set to return on July 30, and the league is taking drastic measures to increase health and safety, including playing all games from a single site — the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida.
With a broken heart emoji, NBA Central released the list of teams that won't get to spend the back half of the year with Mickey Mouse and friends. Officially out of the running are the Charlotte Hornets (just one game shy, as if fans needed another reason to be missing Kemba Walker), the Chicago Bulls (to fans and players this may seem like a merciful end to a disastrous, injury-plagued season), the New York Knicks, the Detroit Pistons, the Atlanta Hawks (a disappointing end to Vince Carter's record-setting 22nd NBA season), the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Golden State Warriors.
The 53-12 Milwaukee Bucks, with Giannis at the helm, lead the league, with Los Angeles trailing by just four wins, but who knows what magical things could happen at ESPN's Wide World of Sports Complex at Disney this year. Even the Utah Jazz and Rudy “Wish I took the coronavirus more seriously” Gobert have a good shot with their current fourth-place standing in the Western Conference.
On top of the new regulations, the NBA also says its return will include “the goal of taking collective action to combat systemic racism and promote social justice.” Seeing as how Black players make up just under 75% of the league, and almost 82% are people of color, it's a bit difficult to commend them rather than saying it's about time.
Disney will be the new home of the NBA when the 2019-20 season returns on July 30, but don't get your season passes just yet — there will still be no fans in attendance or tickets sold to any of the games, including the playoffs. Twenty-two teams will play out the remainder of the year, and the NBA has dated the finals to end no later than Oct. 13.