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The NBA had a plan set in stone for several weeks. The Board of Governors and National Basketball Players Association both approved a proposal to resume the 2019-20 season at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. Of the 30 NBA franchises, only 22 would advance to the season restart to get the ball rolling on the 2020 NBA playoffs.
Then, with little to no surprise, Florida was hit with a massive spike of COVID-19 cases this week. According to The Athletic's Mike Vorkunov, Florida announced just over 3,200 new cases of coronavirus in the state on Thursday, which was a 15 percent increase from the previous single-high figure on Tuesday.
Florida reported 3,207 new coronavirus cases today (a 15% jump from the previous high Tue). The positive rate was 12.5%. There were 316 new cases in Orange County (where Orlando is). Previous high had been 182 Tue. Stark increase in health metrics in Orange Co. last two weeks👇 pic.twitter.com/L0zr9d5kwh
— Mike Vorkunov (@MikeVorkunov) June 18, 2020
In Orange County alone, home to Orlando and the proposed NBA season restart, 316 new cases sprung up in a state that was late to close and early to reopen public places.
Given the NBA's investment in Orlando as the “bubble” site to resume the season, how can the league justify returning to play and compromising players, coaches, and staff health in one of the worst states in terms of coronavirus outbreaks?
In the past week or so, we have heard more on plans by teams and the league to continuously test players and limit contact with other residents and Disney World employees, but it's impossible to be confident in 100 percent accuracy in both testing (false negatives are plausible) and contact between family members, Disney World staff, and everybody involved.
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Recall, the NBA was one of the first professional sports leagues in North America to shut down due to a highly public case of coronavirus when Utah Jazz All-Star Rudy Gobert tested positive, suspending league operations mid-March and causing the domino affect of more organizations like the NHL to suspend their season along with the NCAA canceling March Madness.
What would happen if another player caught COVID-19 in Orlando during a season restart after all that talk of taking safety and precautions seriously?
We badly need sports back into our lives, it has been near tortuous not having the NBA, NHL, NCAA, and MLB entertaining people amid one of the worst tragedies in American (and global) history given the death toll. Many families or their friends have loved ones directly impacted by COVID-19. The reality, however, is the NBA cannot resume in a state with an awful number of rising cases of an infectious virus many other nations already tampered down on, and there are better options for the league, like choosing a state with a decreasing number of cases on which to set foot.
The NBA resuming its anticipated 2019-20 season in Orlando is not a good look given the controversy surrounding malpractice in protecting Florida residents. Many players, coaches, and family members have already seen a first-hand account of the virus, and nobody wants a redo in the bubble site, despite proposal measures that masquerade as safety valves.
