LAGO BUENA VISTA, Fla. – The Orlando Magic used two buses to hold a well-distributed 35-person travel party on the 23-mile trip that made them the first team to enter the restricted environment of the NBA campus on April 7. July.
Although there were far more pressing concerns on such a momentous trip, Orlando’s Nikola Vucevic had another date marked on his internal calendar: July 10. That was the release date for the 2020 edition of the F1 video game.
“I am a big fan of Formula One,” said Vucevic.
So big, in fact, that Vucevic packed his preferred portable steering wheel for the short trip from the Magic Arena, Amway Center, to the Grand Floridian Resort & Spa at Walt Disney World, which houses NBA teams as the league restarts its season. suspended. Vucevic was determined to be well equipped for downtime on a task that will last until August, or longer if Orlando goes beyond the first round of the playoffs.
Vucevic has also benefited from the unique proximity benefit: Magic players can ask family and friends to drop off items at an outside hub that handles mail and delivery for all teams.
“I suppose it is a small advantage for us,” said Vucevic, recalling how he asked his wife, Nikoleta, to buy the F1 game for him at Best Buy and then deliver it to the so-called bubble, which is about 15 minutes away. from your house.
There are 22 NBA teams scattered across three hotels at Disney World, but only the Magic are close enough to home to expedite package deliveries as Vucevic did, or to allow Terrence Ross, Orlando’s sixth man, to have a gaming chair from home. by his wife, Matijana, at the campus drop-off center.
The experience is new to everyone involved, with daily coronavirus testing required and the NBA enacting a 113-page guide to regulations (and restrictions) to govern life on campus. However, it is particularly strange to Magic players and staff, many of whom live within 20 minutes of the Disney site that, due to the coronavirus pandemic, suddenly houses the NBA and Major League Soccer.
“The fact that if you left something at home or there is something you feel you need that you can easily drop, it’s good to know that it is a phone call away,” said Magic coach Steve Clifford. However, Clifford called it “the only place” where the Magic have an advantage. He does not anticipate that proximity otherwise “will come into play as much,” at least not in a way that Magic can benefit.
Home knocks among Magic players, by contrast, are unavoidable.
A good example was last Saturday, when the Magic practiced at 1 p.m., leaving considerable time for the rest of that day to reflect on their surroundings and restrict movement.
“It’s crazy, man,” said Orlando guard DJ Augustin. “It is difficult to be away from family, period, so when I return to my room, it is when it is difficult. But at the same time I am here to do a job. I’m here and I’m focused and I’m trying to make the most of this opportunity. “
Austin Rivers plays for the Houston Rockets, but grew up in Orlando and still maintains an off-season home there. After recently stating that playing at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex would be “a real home court advantage for me,” Rivers seemed more disoriented by circumstances this week than anyone else at Magic camp.
“It feels like I’m home, but I’m not home,” Rivers said. “This has been very difficult for me.
“It is where my girl, my family is, my son is just down the street from there. It was difficult to know that they are 20 minutes away. So close yet so far.”
Individual circumstances present new challenges. Agustin’s father-in-law recently died, adding to the stress of a long road trip away from his wife, Brandy, and their three young children. Orlando guard’s wife Evan Fournier returned to his native France with the couple’s 13-month-old son to stay with Fournier’s parents as he focuses on the NBA restart. Vucevic’s wife is planning their second child in November, prompting parents at the 2019 All-Star center to fly from Montenegro to help Nikoleta Vucevic care for the couple’s 19-month-old son.
“That was really huge for me knowing that I’m not going to leave her alone,” said Vucevic. “It would have been a much more difficult decision for me to play if I were alone and pregnant, with another baby to care for every day.”
The Magic, 30-35, was the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference when the season came to an abrupt halt on March 11. Thanks to the Nets’ considerable injury and loss crisis due to the virus, Orlando has a promising opportunity to move into the seventh – and out of Milwaukee’s way for the first round of the playoffs. Despite the four-month layoff, which essentially coincided with the length of Orlando’s offseason after losing to Toronto in the first round of the 2018-19 playoffs, Clifford said he is encouraged by his team’s relative preparation. after seven practices.
Clifford is also much more curious about what travel elimination can do for his team than how much his players will be affected by being close to home.
“I think it is a big problem,” said Clifford. “You’re not going to have those landings at 2:30 in the morning, eating on the plane at midnight.
“This is a unique experience for everyone. It’s hard to know how to try to help because there is no one to turn to as a mentor, like an older coach who has been through this. And then it’s the same for the players. Everyone has their people they talk to for advice, but there is no one to turn to in this. ”
No, unless the call is to organize, for example, a race to Best Buy.
“We all thought it was going to be a little strange at first, because it’s very close, but I think the boys found out that it is,” said Vucevic.
