Game shape:
Inside the bubble, NBA teams seek fitness and self-preservation.
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – The Heat seemed eager to break a sweat and play full-court basketball. After all, they had not done this for nearly four months when the NBA halted the season because of the novel coronavirus.
When the Heat started their first scrimmage, though, the coaching and medical staffs realized they made a mistake. Only three minutes into the scrimmage, the Heat ended it.
“Everybody was looking at us like, ‘That’s it?’ ” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra recalled. “But everybody was hunched over and grabbing their shorts.”
That scene has become a familiar sight as the NBA prepares for its season restart July 30 at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex without fans.
Not only have the 22 participating teams fretted over following the league’s health and safety protocols to maximize safety during the COVID-19 pandemic, but most also are not in game shape after the league paused March 11.
“Are we in the kind of shape we need to be in like we were in March? No,” Thunder coach Billy Donovan said. “It’s going to take time.”
How much time will that take as the season gets set to resume?
That answer partly depends on the player.
The Lakers’ LeBron James and Anthony Davis and the Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard and Paul George said they healed from various injuries and stayed disciplined with quarantined workouts. Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, Raptors center Marc Gasol and Rockets guard James Harden reported trimming their body fat during the hiatus.
The league also has had a handful of players who missed part or all of practices because of positive COVID-19 cases or undisclosed reasons.
But even for those who trained frequently during quarantine, the options were limited. Players remained confined to Zoom workouts in March and April, teams opened up their facilities for voluntary individual workouts in May and only a handful of NBA players had access to a private hoop or gym.
“We’re not going to rush any guys back,” Nuggets coach Mike Malone said.
“The biggest concern we have as an organization is guys sustaining some of those soft tissue injuries, which are most prevalent when you take four months off and you get back to playing at a high level.”
That could take a few more weeks, depending on a team’s place in the standings.
“I anticipate we’re going to try to bring them along at a pace that we’re still using these seedin games to get to where we want to be,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said. “We’re not trying to force it so everybody is in midseason mode by the beginning of the seed-in games. I think those are still part of the buildup.”
Some other NBA teams do not have such a luxury.
“For a team like us and the situation we’re in, these are the most eight important games in a year,” Magic coach Steve Clifford said.
“With the Clippers or the Lakers, it’s really an extended training camp for them. Depending on where you are in the standings and importance of the games, that dictates what pace you will move at.”
Kings coach Luke Walton says he wants his team “to be as close of a peak that we can for July 31st” when it resumes the season. The Kings have consulted their medical staff to determine when to have light or heavy practices or a day off completely. Though the Pelicans have a young roster, coach
Alvin Gentry plans to expand his rotation so that he does not tax any of his players with heavy minutes.
Because the Lakers anticipate they could play through the NBA Finals in October, Vogel spent his initial practices focused on individual workouts and defensive slides before gradually expanding to fullcourt work.
With the Clippers dealing with pre-approved absences as well to Patrick Beverley and Montrezl Harrell and Lou Williams for personal reasons, coach Doc Rivers has recorded his practices on Zoom for any of his missing players to watch.
“There’s no breaks in practice, so you tend to not go as long,” Rivers said. “You feel like you don’t get half the stuff in that you want to get in. So it’s been a challenge.”
Rivers is pleased that his players followed his messages by “winning the wait.”
The Heat and Raptors had their players complete weight check-ins a few times each week to ensure they stayed disciplined with their training and dieting.
“I don’t think that’s going to be as big of a concern as it may have been,” Portland coach Terry Stotts said. “The league did a nice job with adjusting the schedule to accommodate for that.”
Teams arrived in Orlando between July 7-9 and will have played three scrimmages by the time real games begin this week.
“All of these guys are doing a great job in taking care of themselves,” Donovan said.
“The medical staff has done a great job with laying out a plan in letting those guys understand it’s going to take us some time.”
But unlike during the Heat’s first scrimmage, though, they won’t be able to call off the game.