This is according to NBA insider Athletic Shams Charania, who reports that the 30 teams could play the rest of the season at the Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Florida.
Possible playground for NBA if final season becomes safe for league and players: owned by Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, sources say @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium. The League has kept different scenarios in mind.
– Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 29, 2020
This is not the first time that a centralized location has been discussed, with Las Vegas previously mentioned as an option.
And once you’ve passed images of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, Disney World makes a lot of sense.
There are 12 basketball courts located at Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports complex, and two of them are ready for broadcast.
Any return-to-play scenario must involve some level of closure for players, staff and officials from the rest of the world to reduce the risk of contracting the virus.
Disney World sits on nearly 40 square miles of land and includes 25 hotels on its property. So it would be a way to limit exposure to the outside world, without necessarily forcing players to be locked in their rooms all day.
But as the NBA aims to reopen training facilities next week, most of the return to play plan is out of his control. The better the virus is contained, the safer it will be for players to return to the field.
