Tomorrow marks one month since the 22 teams that qualified for the restart began arriving at the bubbleNBAE/GETTY IMAGES
The NBA "continues to reap the rewards of significant planning and the safety measures put in place in order to finish the 2019-20 season and playoffs," according to Sarah Todd of the DESERET NEWS. The NBA and NBPA yesterday "once again announced that there have been zero positive COVID-19 tests returned from players in the bubble." Jazz coach Quin Snyder said, "The fact that there's been so few tests that are even problematic is a credit to the NBA and really to the compliance of the players and the coaches and the NBA personnel that are here." Spurs coach Gregg Popovich added, "There is absolutely no doubt that the NBA, under the leadership of Adam Silver, has done a magnificent job of being visionaries in the sense of looking at the big picture and what unintended consequences may appear." Todd writes the "hope now is that the safety measures continue so that the NBA can crown a 2020 champion in October" (DESERET NEWS, 8/6).
SMOOTH SAILING SO FAR: In N.Y., Marc Stein notes tomorrow "marks one month since the 22 teams that qualified for the restart began arriving at Walt Disney World, and the steady flow of real games has spawned some optimism throughout the NBA campus." An "occasional coronavirus test has been missed, and many teams are spooked by the prospect of false positives sidelining key players, but the league has thus far kept the coronavirus from infiltrating its village." In addition, players are "duly seizing the platform of the rebooted season to amplify their social justice messages, while the quality of play has received unexpectedly good reviews after five days of games" (N.Y. TIMES, 8/6).
ONE INTERESTED PARTY: ESPN’s Rachel Nichols noted Thunder G and NBPA President Chris Paul “brought his legendary attention to detail" in helping device the bubble set-up, as he was “on top of everything.” When the NBA "tested the virtual fans that you see surrounding the court down here, it was (Paul) who said how much it means to players to see the faces of their families in the stands.” Paul said, “When I got here, it was actually kind of emotional. There was a lot of work that went into putting this all together. A lot of people made this happen, a lot of players, so to get here it was emotional to see all the work that went into day by day, to see how well it's going and to see how excited guys are to see one another. It’s been a pretty dope experience” ("Thunder-Lakers," ESPN, 8/5).
