NBA in talks with Disney to resume season at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex
The momentum toward a resumption of the 2019-20 NBA season amid the COVID-19 pandemic continues to grow.
The NBA has entered into exploratory conversations with The Walt Disney Company on a single-site plan for resuming its season in Central Florida in late July, NBA spokesman Mike Bass said Saturday. Games would be played at Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, which is located near Orlando.
“The NBA, in conjunction with the National Basketball Players Association, is engaged in exploratory conversations with The Walt Disney Company about restarting the 2019-20 NBA season in late July at Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Florida as a single site for an NBA campus for games, practices and housing,” Bass said. “Our priority continues to be the health and safety of all involved, and we are working with public health experts and government officials on a comprehensive set of guidelines to ensure that appropriate medical protocols and protections are in place.”
The ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex is a 255-acre campus that includes multiple arenas that could host games simultaneously.
While the NBA is hoping to complete the season in Central Florida this summer, the league is still uncertain about the regular season and playoff structure it will use. It’s also unclear if all 30 teams will be included in the season’s resumption.
Gov. Ron DeSantis has made it clear that sports are welcome in Florida, noting earlier this month: “If you have a team in an area where they just won’t let them operate, we’ll find a place for you here in the state of Florida.”
The NBA season has been suspended since March 11, as the Miami Heat entered the hiatus with the fourth-best record in the Eastern Conference at 41-24.
NBA teams have been allowed to welcome players back to their training facilities for voluntary individual workouts, albeit under strict league guidelines, since May 8. The Heat began allowing players on May 13 to participate in voluntary individual workouts at the team’s AmericanAirlines Arena practice facility.
Fourteen of the Heat’s 17 players under contract are in South Florida and available to participate, which includes the team’s two two-way contract players Kyle Alexander and Gabe Vincent.
The only three Heat players who have quarantined outside of South Florida — Jimmy Butler, Andre Iguodala and Solomon Hill — have not returned to Miami yet as they wait to learn more concrete details about the NBA’s plan for the remainder of the season, according to multiple league sources. Butler, Iguodala and Hill are in California.
According to ESPN, the NBA is considering a step-by-step plan for a resumption of the 2019-2020 season that includes an initial two-week recall of players into team markets for a period of quarantine, one to two weeks of individual workouts at team facilities and a two-to-three week formal training camp. The NBA has a board of governors call set for Friday, which is expected to provide further clarity on the plan to resume the season.
This story was originally published May 23, 2020 at 1:49 PM.
