NBA Targeting Late July For Resumption of Play at Disney World
By Liam McKeone | May 23 2020
The process to resume basketball is officially underway. The league sent out a survey to the 30 GMs consisting of all their possible options for when the season resumes, including the options of jumping right to the playoffs with an expanded format or resuming the regular season where it stopped.
Now, ESPN's Ramona Shelburne reports the league has officially entered into discussions with Disney to use their grounds in Orlando as a centralized location for teams to play at, and the league is targeting late July as a general return date.
The NBA has entered into exploratory conversations with the Walt Disney Corporation about restarting the remainder of its season at Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida in late July, NBA spokesperson Mike Bass said Saturday.
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) May 23, 2020
Here’s the full quote from NBA spokesman Mike Bass on negotiations with Disney. pic.twitter.com/29YSod7f9i
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) May 23, 2020
This is obviously great news for fans of basketball, but if anything recent times have taught us the importance of caution in our optimism. There are still numerous medical hurdles for the NBA to clear to make everyone feel safe in returning to play, and so far there hasn't been any concrete assurances on that end.
But! The possibility of basketball returning warms my soul, if only as a possibility as it will be until we see players on the court with no fans.