By the way, what does this NBA recovery look like in the Disney bubble?

So far so good. That sums up the general feeling since the NBA put the contact back on last Thursday after several months of hiatus because of what you know. 22 teams still qualifying for the playoffs, or 1,500 people in all gathered in a vacuum to try to go after the 150 games scheduled in the Disney bubble in Florida until early October. So it promises to be terribly long, if ever it goes to the end. 20 Minutes goes around what we saw on the first weekend

Health security? Nothing to complain about at the moment

Anxious to save what could be saved, the NBA has put a lot of money in the business: 150 million euros to lay (among other things) a health protocol longer than a Russian reverie of Tolstoy.

113 pages of rules to follow, established on the basis of advice from health authorities. Inside, to eat and drink. Daily tests with results during the day, of course, wearing a mask mandatory outside of sports practice, a bracelet to validate to verify that you have not been in contact with a sick person at the many control points on the campus , and more or less wacky bans (no doubles at ping-pong, no golf caddy, no visiting a teammate's room).

bobi n luka 🏓 pic.twitter.com/QS92rjrfdy

Note that it works brilliantly. While 25 players had tested positive in early July before the resumption, the NBA has not announced any relapse since mid-July, despite the few exemptions granted in case of force majeure. Several players were thus able to temporarily leave the bubble while being aware of the consequences: four days of quarantine at the minimum return, ten days in the event of dubious adventures. Some have paid the price, like Lou Williams, grabbed his hand in the jar of jam in a gentleman's club in Atlanta (strip bar for ignoramuses) after a funeral. The sixth man of the Clippers has still not been able to replay to date.

It's disturbing when a Rookie in Zion Williamson can act more Mature than NBA vet Lou Williams !!! https://t.co/FlWgDBEXRU

The New York Times also reports that Sacramento-based Richaun Holmes was given ten days in the fridge for unwittingly crossing the bubble border when picking up an order for chicken wings. Punishment certainly deserved when you eat something like this, but still: it does not laugh with protocol violations. ESPN said Friday that another player from Sacramento had to be quarantined for two days earlier this week, due to an inconclusive test, called "false positive", which turned out twice negative afterwards.

"From my perspective, it's going very well," said NBA boss Adam Silver, displaying "reasonable optimism." “I think we are on the right track. But I also recognize that what we are doing has not been done before and that the competition is only just beginning ”. It will be necessary to see, for example, how the NBA manages the arrival of the families, envisaged for the teams which will manage to pass a round of playoffs.

The atmosphere around the matches? The NBA has imagination

By choosing to end the season in a dedicated place, the teams in charge of the organization did not have to rack their brains on how to fill the large voids in the stands in the giant halls of the NBA franchises, which all emerge. with more than 20,000 seats. At Disney World, three rooms have been specially designed to adapt to the Covid, with giant screens all around the field and a tight framing to avoid the distressing impression of the camera unfortunately experienced by European football.

Paul Pierce & Deuce Tatum are both in the house watching the @celtics as virtual fans! #ULTRACourtside #WholeNewGame on ABC pic.twitter.com/xi0feGF3eu

On the said screens, no cheap collage of figurines that seem to date from Fifa 97 (we think of you La Liga), but a damn partnership with Microsoft which allows 300 fans selected according to their own desires by the franchise that receives, to '' cheer on their favorite team in front of a computer screen equipped with a microphone and a webcam. “Our goal is to create an immersive and enjoyable experience where fans can communicate with each other and keep a sense of belonging,” said Sara Zuckert, NBA TV Innovations Manager.

It's quite successful, like the archive images of supporters who encourage their protégés to defend strongly swayed on the screens in the last minutes. We even recognized with pleasure some old glories like Paul Pierce or Chris Bosh, who came to pass a head in front of their computer.

Provoking a forced pass is the ultimate defensive action (no shot attempted, loss of ball caused, individual foul assigned). However, this action does not appear in any "base" stat. pic.twitter.com/UEcTkaJSSy

Let's not oversell the creative genius of the NBA either. If the animation does the job on the screen, we end up making an embarrassing fixture on the screeching of the shoes that rub the floor at the end of the first quarter. And we have not yet managed to go to the end.

The political struggle? A forum for the "Black Live Matter" movement

If there was just one good reason to be interested in the truncated return of the NBA, we have it. The fairly formidable commitment of the players to the “Black Lives Matter” cause, which directly concerns a League where 80% of the players are African-Americans. We are not talking just here about the slogan painted in black on the floors, or even about the attitude of the League which has decided to put aside the regulations to fully support the mobilization of the players, but rather the deep sincerity of the players. some of which outright refuse to talk about basketball at the end of the matches.

Players, coaches and refs lock arms while kneeling during the national anthem before the Grizzlies-Blazers game pic.twitter.com/E0EQEnWV03

Utah Jazz All Star full-back Donovan Mitchell came to the floor with a bulletproof vest on which were inscribed the names of several victims of police violence. At the end of the match, the first post-pandemic, he made it short: “The match was good but at the end of the day the killers of Breonna Taylor [killed by three agents during an erroneous search in early March] are free. . There are so many things we could talk about rather than this meeting ”.

Itou for LeBron James after the inaugural victory against the Clippers: "I hope that we made Colin Kapernick proud [first athlete to kneel during the American anthem] and that we will continue to make him proud". The Lakers star wore her name on his jersey to show his disagreement with the NBA, which listed messages it allowed players to wear in place of their last name on the jersey. “Justice Now”, “Vote”, “I Can't Breathe”, but not “Police Reform”, or “Am I Next? ".

here are the messages some of the clippers are wearing today ❤️💙 pic.twitter.com/BtGFGpWZXB

To understand how the defense of the black minority structures speeches at Disney, we must listen to Greg Popovich. The Spurs boss, very committed against Trump, blown the audience during a press conference in video when asked for news of Birindelli, supposedly injured:

“Our number one priority now that all of society cares is racial justice, or rather the racial injustice that exists in our country and trying to do the right things for all Americans. Far too many people do not understand how horrible black people have been for so long. […] Otherwise Birindelli is fine ”.

The level of play? A little early to get an idea

The most delicate part of the paper, since we did not hit a single whole game. That said, the basics are still there with most contenders for the title, whether you like it or not. Houston, for example, shot 60 times three points in his last game and Giannis has already wiped his big compass on the Boston defense in the opening. The places also seem frozen in the East as in the West with four teams far ahead, on one side the Milwaukee-Toronto duo on the other the battle of LA between the Lakers and the Clippers.

But let's say that we remain unsatisfied for the moment. As expected, players are struggling to find the rhythm and streaks of victory are rare. After beating the Clippers, the Lakers spanked Toronto, as the Bucks bowed to Houston 48 hours after beating the Celtics. In short, we find a little tepid matches at the end of March, when the teams qualified for the playoffs rest their mounts and the dunces play the carrot of the draft.

We will still watch out for fidelity our Spurs of all life (finally that of TP), still able to get a 23rd presence in a row in postseason against Memphis, maybe in a play-off with a machete.

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NBA: The League and the players intend to have "a direct impact to combat racism"

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