Nets clear first 36 hours in bubble & have first full practice in months
The Nets flew into Orlando on Tuesday and were immediately forced to quarantine in their rooms for 36 hours as part of the NBA’s coronavirus protocol.
“I will say those 36 hours went pretty surprisingly quickly,” Nets GM Sean Marks said in a Thursday conference call. “I give the NBA a lot of credit for what they’re trying to embark on. This is no easy task.”
The NBA has instituted a strict protocol for teams to fol- low once they journey into the bubble.
Nets players, coaches and executives self-isolated in their rooms for all of Wednesday and most of Thursday. Some players used that time to set up Zoom meetings, where they collaborated for yoga sessions, corrective exercises and different stretching and mobility workouts to keep them occupied. They were eventually cleared to have their first practice as a team in Orlando Thursday afternoon, shuttling into the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex.
“It’s been a little weird, obviously kind of being locked in the hotel room,” Caris LeVert said. “But it was good to get out in the gym today, be able to run around a bit, get a little sweat in. You know, it’s a different experience for everyone, so we’re kind of taking it day by day now.”
Jacque Vaughn didn’t once turn on his television. During his time isolated in his room, Vaughn, the Nets’ interim head coach, set up Zoom calls with his assistant coaches and the front office staff. He went over the practice plan with coaches, but most of his assistants were focused on making it out of the 36-hour quarantine.
“We went with the strategy of we’re going to complete, not complain,” he said.
Orlando is familiar territory for Vaughn, who coached the Magic in his first gig from 2012 to 2015. He still remembers what Orlando afternoon showers feel like in the central Florida climate.
“I was able to Facetime my family. I think that’s a great challenge for us while we’re here,” he said. “I did have a little balcony. I was able to get out on the balcony and get some fresh air. … I got some pushups done in the room. It was an effective 40-plus hours for me.”
After 36 hours in isolation, the Nets practiced as a team for the first time since team facilities reopened after the COVID-19 pandemic. Previously, the NBA instituted a coronavirus protocol limiting the personnel allowed into practice facilities. Before the trip to Orlando, no more than one Nets player and two coaches or assistants were allowed on a single court.
They had their first five-onfive scrimmage on Friday, with Rodions Kurucs starting at the four.
“It just felt good to be back on the floor. I think that was the most exciting thing,” Vaughn said. “We got a little conditioning underneath us. Didn’t go too hard. After the quarantine we wanted to get guys to just run up and down a little bit, feel the ball again, feel playing with each other again. Excited to be back on the floor and more than one-on-one and one-on-zero workouts.”
The first 40 hours in the Orlando bubble were a taste of what’s to come for NBA teams over the next three or so months as the season resumes at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex. The league also provided its players reading materials given its position at the intersection of entertainment and social justice: “The
Autobiography of Malcolm X” and NY Times best-seller “Stamped: Racism, Anti-Racism and You” by Jason Reynolds and Ibrahim Kendi.
The Nets are shorthanded, but they won’t be for long. Marks has rounded out the roster, making official the signings of Michael Beasley, Jamal Crawford and Donta Hall. The Nets are expected to use their final roster slot to add a frontcourt player in Justin Anderson, and they also waived Theo Pinson to make room for combo guard Tyler Johnson.
Life for the new additions will be different. Beasley and Crawford passed their physicals and arrived at the team hotel on Thursday, but they must quarantine for six days and pass a series of coronavirus tests before gaining clearance to practice and play with the rest of the team. The same goes for Hall and Johnson, who didn’t travel with the Nets to Orlando due to personal reasons, but is expected to join them in the coming days.
Those players will be substitutes for Spencer Dinwiddie, DeAndre Jordan and Taurean Prince, each of whom tested positive for the coronavirus and stayed in Brooklyn, as well as Wilson Chandler, who opted out of the Orlando bubble citing a fear of spreading the virus to his loved ones.
“That’s really the challenge of making guys feel comfortable but at the same time putting them in the position of — I think keeping things simple is going to be a necessity for us,” Vaughn said. “Can’t introduce a bunch of new concepts, so we’ll take advantage of some of the concepts that are familiar with us.
“It’s not like we have to travel or get on the plane for the next city [so I can] really immerse myself with relationships with the guys that are coming in.”