The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
With NBA restarting, Van Gundy has some questions
With all the excitement surrounding the NBA’s restart and the whirlwind rollout of its format, the possibility of the coronavirus infiltrating the bubble has felt more like an afterthought.
But Jeff Van Gundy hasn’t forgotten about the threat. It was less than three months ago that a single confirmed case prompted the entire league to shut down, and Van Gundy, the longtime coach and ESPN analyst, isn’t sure how players will react if the virus surfaces.
“Right now we’re somewhat underestimating the fear of that scenario,” Van Gundy told the New York Daily News. “For the players on the guy’s team, for the players who have played against that team or will play against that team or that will play against that team. I’m not sure we know — because I know I don’t know if that fear is going to be more than I expect, less than I expect.”
Van Gundy also noted that the reaction might be dictated by who contracts the virus.
“And what if, God forbid, it happens to one of our star players?” Van Gundy says. “It’s one thing if it happens to a 12th man, for competitive reasons, but also for the amount of fear it drives. What if it happens to one of the all-time guys in league?”
On Thursday, commissioner Adam Silver revealed his plan for dealing with a single positive test, saying it could be dealt with through frequent testing of all players and contact tracing.
“The answer is we do not believe we would need to” disqualify a team if one of its players tests positive, Silver told TNT. “We’ve been dealing with a group of our experts plus public health authorities down in Florida now. And the view is that if we were
testing every day and we were able to trace contacts that player has had, we’re able to, in essence, contain that player and separate him from his team. And if we’re continuing to test every day, the belief is we would not have to shut down if a single player tested positive.”
Van Gundy is also concerned about maintaining the sanity of players who are restricted to a bubble for up to three months. He mentioned that it will be much longer than a normal NBA road trip, which are often draining enough on players who are eager to get home after less than two weeks.
“I think also we can’t try to mitigate the length of time and staying power that teams playing all the way through in the bubble are going to have to have,” Van Gundy said. “For them being in one spot and not at home ever for that amount of time, and how draining road trips can be mentally.”
The rules and restrictions of the bubble have not been revealed yet by the NBA, but ESPN reported that golfing and dining is allowed with social distancing as a requirement. Florida is experiencing a coronavirus spike with 1,495 confirmed cases reported Friday. It was the most cases since the state began re-opening in May.