Will there be such a thing as home-court advantage with no fans in the arena and the stadium not even being the team's own? Well, if Dallas Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle is to be believed, the answer is yes.
While joining the Dennis and Cowlishaw Show on ESPN Dallas, Carlisle discussed the formatting of the Orlando restart of the 2019-2020 NBA season following the stoppage of play due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Mavs' tactician shared how the league is attempting to make the games feel as normal as possible, even with no fans in attendance.
When asked if the intensity level without fans will be the same as it is normally, Carlisle said he believes the NBA's plan will make it so.
“I think it will. There’s going to be some very interesting things in the environment. They’re going to have a virtual setup where they’re going to have virtual fans that show up on a big screen. There will be a home-court advantage on some level,” the Mavs coach explained.
“You’ll hear a lot of the same types of noises and sounds that you normally hear in your home arena. Warm-up introductions for players will have the same music. They’re doing some very creative things to create an environment that is going to be not exactly like it would be if there were fans in the building, but they’re going to do a really interesting job simulating those types of situations.
“I’m looking forward to it. I’ve been on some calls where a lot of this stuff has been laid out. I’ve probably told you more than I should already. There’s a lot of creativity that’s gone into this and it’s going to be really, really interesting to be involved in it.”
This information from Rick Carlisle certainly leaves a lot to be imagined.
While regular starting lineup music and intensity isn't hard to do (you could even have the regular home PA announcers do the intros remotely), other aspects of a true home-court advantage during the game will be much harder to pull off.
As fans have seen with European soccer's resumption, feeding in sound can only do so much. What will the NBA do? How will they try to artificially make an empty gym feel like a team's home building? Will it be successful? Only time will tell.
For what it's worth though, the Mavs coach did great in teasing fans of what's to come.
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