The bubble awaits: NBA teams set to start Disney arrivals

ANBA

WASHINGTON (AP) — Baseball’s two World Series teams canceled workouts Monday because of coronavirus testing delays that one executive worried could endanger the season.

The defending champion Washington Nationals and reigning American League champion Houston Astros each called off training camp practices after not receiving test results from Friday. The cancellations come amid delays around Major League Baseball, with some players opting out, and in the aftermath of Nationals reliever Sean Doolittle criticizing slow test results and a lack of some personal protective equipment.

“Without accurate and timely testing, it is simply not safe for us to continue with summer camp,” Washington general manager Mike Rizzo said. “Major League Baseball needs to work quickly to resolve issues with their process and their lab. Otherwise, summer camp and the 2020 season are at risk.”

Astros general manager James Click said the delay in testing results and the contagious nature of the coronavirus led to the decision to cancel a full day of workouts.

“Despite these delays over the holiday weekend, we’re optimistic that this process will be ironed out and we’ll be back on the field and ready to compete for a championship soon,” Click said.

Hours later, the Astros said they had received the delayed test results and would work out Tuesday.

MLB said in a statement that 95% of its intake testing had been completed and the Utah laboratory it’s using had reported 98% of results, a majority of those a day after samples were collected.

MLB said it addressed delays caused by the holiday weekend, doesn’t expect them to continue and commended teams for canceling workouts. fter four months of waiting and planning, the

bubble is ready to be tested.

The first six teams — Brooklyn, Denver, Orlando, Phoenix, Utah and Washington — are scheduled to arrive Tuesday at the Disney complex. Another eight teams arrive Wednesday, the last eight arrive Thursday, and with that training camps will be on the cusp of beginning.

If the plan works, all teams will be at Disney for at least 5-1/ 2 weeks and some teams will be there for more than three months. And not everyone in the league has an abundance of optimism that the experiment — involving daily testing, separation from friends and family for weeks if not months, and strict regulations regarding just about everything imaginable at Disney — will be enough to complete the season.

“I’m not very confident,” New Orleans guard Brandon Ingram said. “But they’ve got us going ... so we’ll see.”

The process for arrivals will be streamlined — players and team staff will be immediately taken to the testing room at their Disney hotel after clearing security when arriving on the premises. They’ll receive a short briefing on the testing program and other matters, receive

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Mookie Betts wasn’t moved by Major League Baseball’s response in the wake of George Floyd’s death in police custody, and the Los Angeles Dodgers’newest star has a goal of getting the Black community to love baseball as much as he does.

MLB released a statement nine days after the death of Floyd, the Black man who died after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed a knee into his neck for several minutes

what will serve as their room key, then go through initial testing for both the coronavirus and the presence of antibodies. Virus testing will continue daily; the antibody testing is intended to be a one-time event at Disney.

In their rooms, a welcome kit including a thermometer, pulse oximeter and two optional items — a physical distancing sensor and an Oura Ring that tracks sleep and activity — will be awaiting players and staff, as will some personal protective equipment such as wipes to clean the exterior of their luggage.

“I think we’re on the right path, we’re on the right plan,” Houston general manager Daryl Morey said. “But I think every day there’s new information so ... I think if anyone’s certain about anything right now I think they’re making a mistake. I think we all have to intelligently continue to understand the risks, manage the risks versus the potential outcomes, and go from there.”

For some teams, the getaway comes not long after the reality of the virus struck yet again. Miami closed its facility late last week following positive test results, Milwaukee and Sacramento on May 25. MLB was the last of the major pro sports leagues that either responded to Floyd’s death or condemned racism.

“I think baseball did not do a good job with that, but voices were heard,” Betts said Monday on a video conference call with r epor t er s.

“That’s the main thing, that we get our voices heard to make some changes.

I know it’s not all going to be at one time, but a little change here, followed over the weekend after the same circumstance, and now seven of the 22 Disneybound teams have had to shutter their practice gyms.

All this, of course, comes with coronavirus numbers in Florida still rising and the percentage of positive test results simply overwhelming what the standards were a few weeks ago.

“As long as we try to (abide) by the rules, I think that’s going to help get us through the season,” Pelicans guard Lonzo Ball said. “I can’t really tell you whether it’s going to work or not .”

And not every team is having its entire travel party arrive at once. Phoenix general manager James Jones said some Suns players will be arriving separately, adding that some decisions have yet to be made.

“The initial adjustment will be tough,” Jones said. “The first five or six days – you’re talking about quarantine, trying to get acclimated to new surroundings, trying to figure out your flow and rhythm. But once the games start, they’re every other day, I think the players will be fine. You play a game on Monday, you’re tired and recover on Tuesday, then you’re right back at it on Wednesday.” a change there, we’ll eventually get to where we need to be.”

Betts said his goal of

And there are some teams, including Washington, that are still apparently figuring out who will go. Wizards coach Scott Brooks said Monday that the team is still waiting for a final decision on guard Bradley Beal, who has indicated that he is weighing whether participating in the restart would be his best move.

“No final decision,” Brooks said. “We’re all still day by day and he’s looking great . ... We hope that everybody goes down there.”

The Wednesday arrivals are scheduled to include Boston, Dallas, the Los Angeles Clippers, Memphis, Miami, New Orleans, Oklahoma City and Sacramento. On Thursday, Houston, Indiana, the Los Angeles Lakers, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Portland, San Antonio and Toronto make their way into the bubble.

Spurs forward Rudy Gay has a son who happens to be a big Disney fan, and wanted to know why the family didn’t take its traditional Disney vacation this year. Gay hasn’t had the heart yet to tell him that he’s headed to Disney for several weeks, and was asked Monday if he has a special souvenir in mind to bring home.

“A healthy father,” Gay said. “A corona-free father, hopefully.” bringing baseball into Black communities is “more of a personal t hi ng.”