The Lakers are not concerned about the safety of the NBA return plan

As the Lakers returned to work this week, things, for the first time in months, began to seem a little more normal in the world. Social media was full of photos and videos of players exercising and shooting shots, and it really started to feel like basketball was back … at least on a superficial level.

But one did not have to squint too much to see how different this new normal is necessary for a pandemic. For every shot of LeBron James and Anthony Davis doing threesomes, there’s a video of Rob Pelinka and Frank Vogel having a physically estranged discussion while wearing masks. It doesn’t take long to realize that all of the clips are of players doing individual workouts, with teammates rarely in sight and the coaches helping them to wear masks and mostly keeping their distance.

Those new protocols are an open (and admirable) demonstration for fans of how to be responsible, and the organization even asks its supporters to “be part of this team: wear your mask.”

But in addition to setting a good example, all of those protocols have also had another effect: giving everyone involved confidence that the NBA’s return to the game can be done safely.

“I keep trying to tell people, man, at the end of the day, I don’t think anybody is afraid, like, deathJared Dudley said, emphasizing that last word during a Zoom conference call with journalists this week. “I think they are potentially afraid of receiving (COVID-19), and I think it sucks that they are going to quarantine seven days in a small house in the one who knows nothing. “

As long as the NBA has approached a return to the game, this has been the subtext of comments from Lakers players who have spoken to the media. Most have not said as explicitly as the perpetually sincere Dudley, but reading between the lines, it is quite obvious that many players are more concerned with the restrictions they will be subjected to than with their own safety.

This is even true for players who may be at risk, as JaVale McGee, who has asthma, has rated the limitations that players will be “concerning” and said he is not concerned about their health. Even Avery Bradley, the only Laker who has so far chosen to leave Orlando, did so out of concern for his son’s health, not himself. If his teammate Dwight Howard joins him, it is expected to be due to situations he is dealing with in his family life or his quest for social justice, not for his own safety.

What the players involved with the Lakers have said will be the hardest part is the isolation and the rules they will be subject to when they resume the season.

“That is the biggest concern for the bubble, is that (the players) cannot see their families for two months, or that they do not have visitors or friends, and be locked in this place without having any interaction with our outside world”, Lakers guard Danny Green said in an interview on CBS New York.

“That could have a big effect on the game, depending on the time of the season or the time of the playoffs when a guy may feel a little claustrophobic or nostalgic, or just want to have that human connection to go out and be with his friends. and family members, or loved ones, loved ones, “Green continued. “I think that is probably the most important task, staying in the bubble and keeping the boys focused on the bubble.”

Adam Pantozzi / NBAE photo via Getty Images

The restrictions players have in Orlando will be strenuous, to be clear. Players will be screened for COVID-19 every day they are at Disney World, and that after being placed in a minimum 48-hour quarantine at their hotel upon arrival, and will not be allowed to leave their rooms until they give twice negative for coronavirus. Given that the Lakers will travel on July 9, that last rule will leave Dudley without much way to celebrate his 35th birthday.

“Reminder, it will be my birthday on July 10, I will be quarantined in a hotel,” Dudley said.

If Dudley (or any other player) tests positive for the virus at any point, that initial quarantine won’t be the only time it will be blocked. Players will have to be isolated for a minimum of seven days if they test positive for the virus, and if someone abandons the bubble, they will face the pseudo punishment of the much less pleasant deep nasal swab, rather than the oral version of the test that will receive every day. Haley O’Shaughnessy of The Ringer summed up many of the other regulations well in a recent story:

Players and staff cannot visit each other’s hotel rooms. They can use the pools, trails, and golf courses on campus, and they can socialize in their hotels’ “ballrooms”, but not without restrictions. There are no ping pong doubles (I’d like to see who enforces this and how). Do not use the same pack of cards twice.

But while those rules clearly aren’t something someone is excited about, they’ve given members of the Lakers going to Orlando a sense of security.

“I am very confident in this bubble setup and the process. Those (positive) tests for me were something I really expected. You’re seeing it in all sports: As testing begins, there will be a handful of positive cases, “Vogel said when asked about the players who tested positive for the virus as the league began doing individual workouts again. .

“I think that is why testing started several weeks before we went down, so that we can identify who is positive and go through the necessary isolation and quarantine, and hopefully we will put ourselves in a position where when we arrive to Orlando, those kinds of scenarios are minimal or, hopefully, none. I am confident that we are going to enter Orlando. “

Vogel’s point about the process comes to what Pelinka sees as the central issue in the NBA’s restart efforts.

“I think the fundamental principle of the plans for the NBA reboot on the Orlando campus is ‘Can we create an environment there that is safer than a real-world-only environment?'” Pelinka asked in his call. Zoom to the media. week. “We all see the reports, the numbers, and the spikes in the various cities we live in and in parts of Florida. And yes, of course, those numbers are daunting, but the purpose of creating this environment is not to let the virus be there or to try to keep the virus out. “

Andrew D. Bernstein / NBAE photo via Getty Images

As of Thursday, 7.12% of NBA players had tested positive for coronavirus since returning to the facility. That’s already lower than the current positive test rate in the United States for the past week (8.7%, according to CDC data), and as an epidemiologist pointed out in a recent podcast by Howard Beck of the Bleacher Report, honestly It would be difficult for the NBA to do worse than that with the restrictions in place, especially during testing before going into the bubble and keeping those who test positive away until they are removed.

Pelinka credited the NBA for “hundreds and hundreds of hours of work” with the National Basketball Players Association to establish “extensive” and “thoughtful” health protocols, and said he is optimistic it will be safer within the bubble that was outside of it. Still, he said the Lakers will reassess whether they believe that is the case every step of the way.

“As an organization, we will listen with the loudest voice to our players, because they will clearly be on the front line of playing basketball,” Pelinka said. “We will be sensitive to their needs there, how they will feel when they are there, if there are changes we can make … That will be at the center of what we do.”

Right now, players’ level of concern may be minimal, but it’s not at zero.

“I would be lying to you if I told you that everyone is completely comfortable and they don’t have bad feelings about how it will be. I think we all know that it is a risk. I think now we are all watching all the news, and we are still watching all the crown cases in Los Angeles, California, Arizona, Miami, Florida, “Dudley said.” We see what is going on. ”

Image courtesy of the Lakers.

Still, Dudley is also well aware of the financial risks of the league not ending his season, and has openly expressed about them, and also knows that NBA players aren’t the only ones who put themselves at risk by going back to work. at this time. .

“Every day the people who work … you go to your office, some people make restaurants. Sometimes you have to travel for your family. Now, we make a lot more money than people, but we understand the risks of basketball, “said Dudley. “I think it is also a must to be able to entertain. For me, I feel comfortable going there. “

The bubble is clearly not completely safe. The Lakers don’t have to go far to see that, either, as Lionel Hollins, one of their top assistant coaches, will work from home after being flagged as a health risk. The team had to make difficult decisions while downsizing their entire travel group. If the NBA didn’t have some level of concern about the coronavirus penetrating its Orlando atmosphere, none of that would be necessary. There is no Disney pixie powder to protect from COVID-19.

With that said, nothing is completely safe right now. Businesses, across the world and across the country, have to weigh the same risk-reward equation that they try, with far fewer resources for security, to return for economic reasons. As much as the league makes you believe that this is due to a certain sense of altruism, the NBA is no different. They will try to do this as low as possible, of course, but resort staff and others who go in and out of the bubble, in addition to how contagious this virus is, create a risk-free scenario. impossible.

It’s clear that players across the league are comfortable with that exchange for financial reasons, or this return-to-game plan would never have been approved by the union, and for the Lakers, there is another additional motivation to buy in the sense of security. that the league is selling.

“For me it’s about winning a championship. Are we still doing a parade here? If we have a parade … that counts for me. That’s all I say. I’m excited to be able to go through that process with the Lakers, ”said Dudley.

A Lakers player who talks openly about competing for a championship. Just another little nugget of normalcy returned … As long as you don’t look too deeply where and how they will.

For more Lakers talk, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast at iTunes, Spotify, Stapler or Google Podcasts. You can follow Harrison on Twitter at @hmfaigen.