South Florida Sun-Sentinel Palm Beach (Sunday)
League: Late-July return considered
Single-site option would use Disney complex
There likely won’t be home games for the Miami Heat when it comes to a resumption of the pandemic-interrupted 2019-20 NBA season, but there apparently will be a home-state advantage.
After considering the idea of several other neutral sites for the league’s return — Las Vegas, Houston and Toronto among them — the NBA on Saturday issued a statement that it is investigating a single-site option, with any remaining games this season — including playoffs — to be held at the Disney World complex outside of Orlando.
In issuing the statement, NBA spokesman Mike Bass put the timing for resumption in late July, with the expectation of players being housed in a quarantine-like campus setting for games to be played in the absence of fans at the Wide World of Sports complex at Disney.
The NBA statement:
“The NBA, in conjunction with the National Basketball Players Association, is engaged in exploratory conversations with The Walt Disney Company about restarting the 2019-20 NBA season in late July at Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Florida as a single site for an NBA campus for games, practices and housing.
“Our priority continues to be the health and safety of all involved, and we are working with public health experts and government officials on a comprehensive set of guidelines to ensure that appropriate medical protocols and protections are in place.”
With most NBA teams currently conducting individual voluntary workouts at their team facilities, including the Heat at AmericanAirlines Arena, the expectation is that training camps will follow at some point in June. That would lead to the league then sheltering in place at Disney for the balance of a season that could run through September, when training camps for the 2020-21 season had been scheduled to open.
Such an approach will afford the Heat the advantage of not having to fly to resume play, with Disney a three-hour drive from South Florida. There also are considerations for family members joining players at Disney, which also could allay concerns for Heat players and staffers involved.
Still to be determined is whether regular-season games will be included in the restart, or if there instead will be a jump directly into the playoffs. The NHL, for example, is considering an approach that would expand the playoffs from 16 to 24 teams, with the remainder of the league eliminated from the process.
The Heat currently stand as the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference, with a 41-24 record, idle since the March 11 suspension of play due to the new coronavirus pandemic.
Major League Soccer also is considering resuming its season at the 220-acre Disney athletic complex, with Major League Baseball considering Florida springtraining facilities for its potential restart.
The NBA is expected to offer greater clarity with a Board of Governors virtual meeting scheduled for Friday.