Things are finally looking up for basketball as the NBA recently announced the 2019-20 NBA season will officially be returning after months of planning and discussion.
There remain logistic and health issues that need to be addressed, but commissioner Adam Silver and the NBPA continue to do their due diligence for a best course of action. Walt Disney World will serve as the bubble location for the 22-team plan.
Along with the announcement of the restart, the league also shared a schedule of important dates for the remainder of the season. Regular-season/seeding games are slated to start on July 31, with the playoffs set to run until October.
While a timeline of events was provided, there are still details regarding operations within the bubble location that need to be ironed out. One of those items is player families and according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the league will allow them to join after the first round of the playoffs:
Players and family must stay inside the bubble; families can enter after the first round.
Originally, the league was going to allow its players freedom to go in and out of the bubble, but it appears they are going to crack down and make it mandatory for them and their families to remain inside until their season is done.
This is the smarter move as any contact with the outside world would raise the risk of infection, but the NBA hopes play would continue even if a positive case was found.
Also, the timing of when families can visit is interesting as they will not currently be able to be with the players during their training and regular-season games. This is probably because the league is trying to limit how many people are on site as six teams and their travel parties would be leaving after the conclusion of regular season play.
While it is good the NBA is allowing player families to join them, it is just one issue that needs to be addressed. Other things like testing methods, quarantine plans in the event of a positive test, and the calendar for the 2020-21 NBA season all need to be formally agreed to.
Despite all the remaining matters to attend to, the most important thing is that basketball is coming back and that is reason enough to rejoice.
