Bucks ready to walk into NBA bubble
Everything is packed and most of the equipment is on site in Orlando. The first practice is already set for Saturday afternoon.
The Milwaukee Bucks are going to Disney World, their home for the foreseeable future as the NBA prepares to restart its 2019-20 season.
The Bucks are scheduled to leave Thursday, though their full 35-person traveling party probably won't be going at the same time. A positive coronavirus test Friday that prompted the closure of the practice facility threw a wrench into
the plans.
"The league has very specific protocols, set of requirements that are necessary for you first to leave your market and get on your plane to get there and then for you to actually enter into the campus after quarantine while you're in Disney," Bucks general manager Jon Horst said in a conference call Wednesday. "We have followed those, we'll continue to follow those incredibly closely and that will ultimately lead and direct what we do.
"But I would say, more than likely not the entire group (will leave Thursday), but I think a good portion of it if not all of it. We'll see."
Horst flatly declined to identify whether a player, coach or someone else in the organization had received the positive test, citing league and team policy against disclosing personal information. He did confirm, however, that the individual was part of the traveling party, which strongly influenced the team's decision to shutter its practice facility, protecting as many people as possible before leaving for Orlando.
Horst expressed complete confidence in both the league and his own team's preparations toward making the Disney bubble the ideal environment for restarting the season, considering the circumstances. With COVID-19 cases rising in Central Florida and acknowledging that some people will be able to move in and out of the campus, Horst trusts the league's testing, travel protocols, use of personal protective equipment and all the plans put in place for keeping everyone safe and healthy.
"I just think in some ways, hopefully if it works, we could end up being in one of the healthiest, safest places you could possibly be to perform the sport," Horst said. "I think it makes sense to ask the question, it makes sense to consider the risks and to think about some of the fears that go along with it, but the NBA has thought about everything here. It doesn't mean it's going to work, it just means I truly believe if it is going to work we have the best chance of doing it there.”
Over the past three months, Horst has been on the inside as the league has created its plans. He's been part of the daily task-force calls with the other general managers and he's participated in countless league-wide meetings aimed at addressing every aspect of the campus setting.
As teams have arrived in Orlando