NBA releases scrimmage schedule ahead of Orlando restart
The 2019-20 NBA season is set to resume at Walt Disney World in Orlando later this month, and while teams will soon be hitting the courts in Florida for training, the NBA released the scrimmage schedule which will take place from July 22-28.
Teams will compete in three inter-squad scrimmages during final preparations for the restart, and the Orlando Magic will kick things off against the Los Angeles Clippers.
Despite Florida reporting almost 11,500 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, the NBA still is moving forward with its Disney World bubble plan.
The possibility of being infected with the coronavirus is among the biggest fears of the NBA's restart. In order to reduce the risks of spreading, any player who tests positive for the coronavirus will be placed in "isolation housing" and take another test to confirm that they're positive, per Charania. A player must then test negative twice before returning to the NBA's Disney campus.
Every player will be tested nightly while on campus, and the results are expected to come in the morning. The NBA is in discussions with national coronavirus testing providers such as BioReference Laboratories, LabCorp, Quest Diagnostics and Vault Health/RUCDR Infinite Biologics at Rutgers to finalize its testing program, Charania reports.
Multiple players already have opted out of the remainder of the season for various reasons including Victor Oladipo, Davis Bertans and Avery Bradley.
More must-reads: