Now probably is not the best time to be traveling to Florida, but the NBA will be sending the bulk of its teams to Orlando.
However, Adam Silver still believes the league can create a safe environment for everyone.
The NBA’s plan is to have 22 teams finish out the season at Walt Disney World Resort. When the idea came to life, Florida sounded like a fantastic idea for a location, as they had eased restrictions and a relatively low number of COVID-19 cases.
But recently cases have begun to spike, with nearly 9,000 new cases being reported Friday.
And on a conference call with media Friday afternoon, Silver responded to concerns about the surge in cases in Florida.
Adam Silver: "My ultimate conclusion is we can't outrun the virus, and we are going to be living with this for the foreseeable future."
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) June 26, 2020
NBA commissioner Adam Silver, in ongoing conference call: "No options are risk free right now. We can't sit on the sidelines indefinitely and we must adapt…. This is far from the ideal way to finish our season."
— Barry Jackson (@flasportsbuzz) June 26, 2020
Adam Silver on a conference call just now, “We can’t sit on the sidelines indefinitely. We must adapt…We believe it will be safer on our campus than off it. But this is not business as usual.”
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) June 26, 2020
(2/2) Silver says the league is still discussing procedures with Disney to test workers who will be coming in and out of the campus.
— Andrew Lopez (@_Andrew_Lopez) June 26, 2020
Adam Silver says that any one positive test, no matter the player, won't stop things from continuing. He says the league is discussing with health officials and the players what would happen in an instance of "significant spread" but that "that line hasn't been set yet."
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) June 26, 2020
As Silver says, nothing at this point is risk-free. Players have been made aware of the potential risks and have been given the option to opt out, so it sounds like the commissioner is effectively putting the ball in each players’ court to determine if they want to play or not.
