The Bubble—the sealed-off campus at Disney World in Orlando, Florida, where the National Basketball Association has resumed its pandemic-interrupted season—is pervaded by an uneasy calm. No one there has yet tested positive for Covid-19, allowing the NBA to avoid the embarrassment of MLB’s reopening in July, which was marred by an outbreak among players on the Miami Marlins. The closest thing to a controversy inside the Bubble had to do with the quality of the food. On opening night, LeBron James and the Lakers eked out a 103-101 win against the Clippers, their crosstown rivals and stiffest competition for the top spot coming out of the Western Conference. The Jazz topped the Pelicans 106-104 in spite of All-Star Donavon Mitchell’s poor shooting night and perhaps because New Orleans rookie dynamo Zion Williamson played only 15 minutes.
So far, anyway, so good. But the run-up to the restart was anything but smooth. The league’s team owners approved a plan on June 4 to restart the NBA season with 22 teams rather than the usual 30. A day later, an executive committee of the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA), the union representing the players, ratified the league’s plan. The restart looked like a done deal. That is, until the details of the plan really sunk in.
Read Full Article »