One final look back at the entertaining, defense-free Team USA scrimmage on Thursday that was at the end of mini-camp in Las Vegas…
Michael Carter-Williams does not exactly have a reputation for defensive excellence on a good day, and Victor Oladipo of the Magic completely exposes that during the exhibition game. It makes for a good dunk.
Don’t expect to see either of them in Rio for the 2016 Olympics.
While a couple of high profile stars — LeBron James and Anthony Davis — are forgoing a social justice message on their jersey, Giannis Antetokounmpo has settled on one.
“Equality.”
That’s what the reigning MVP told reporters Monday, it’s the same message his brothers (Thanasis Antetokounmpo, also on the Bucks) will wear. Giannis would not get into why he chose “equality.”
Antetokounmpo, who grew up as a poor immigrant in Athens, is not going to complain about the bubble conditions. From Eric Woodyard of ESPN.
“I’m in a situation where I’m extremely blessed and I cannot complain. Obviously, it doesn’t matter where you are in life, there’s always something to complain, there’s always a problem and an issue,” Antetokounmpo said. “But I try to kind of not focus on that. So as I said, my apartment in Greece, when I was younger, with my four brothers, was way smaller than the suite that I have in the hotel, so I’m just trying to enjoy the moment.
“This is something special,” he continued. “Hopefully, this pandemic never happens again so we never are able to come back in the campus, but at the end of the day, this is part of history, so just being able to be here, participate in this, I’m just trying to be in the moment, trying to enjoy every moment, trying to enjoy basketball. I’m happy that we’re back playing basketball, something that I love doing, so there’s nothing really to complain about.”
If only every player had that mindset.
“With all the variables, from how I have to build my 5-on-5 workload back up, to the increased risk of a soft tissue injury which could delay my rehab, and the unknown exact set up of the bubble, I just can’t get my mind to being fully comfortable in playing… getting fully healthy for the 2020-21 season is the right decision for me.”
That was Pacers’star Victor Oladipo explaining why he would sit out the NBA restart in Orlando.
Then he got to the Walt Disney World property and saw the set up of the bubble, and he got in some five-on-five practices with teammates, and not it appears he might play after all, a story broken by Shams Charania of The Athletic.
There is growing belief Pacers star Victor Oladipo will attempt to play in the NBA’s restarted season after multiple strong team practices in Orlando, sources inside the bubble tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 13, 2020
Oladipo has been fully participating in five-on-five scrimmages in Orlando, and there’s now optimism around his playing status, sources say. https://t.co/bJ8OLRjmIA
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 13, 2020
Oladeipo may lace them up and play at the end of the month, but nothing is set in stone. Of course, a competitor like Oladipo wants to get on the court, and there is an unquestioned energy finally getting back out there after the coronavirus-forced interruption.
There are also another $2.7 million reasons for him to play (the salary he would lose sitting out). Countering that, Oladipo also got one more year under contract and his concerns about an injury from ramping up to fast are legitimate.
Oladipo missed more than a year after surgery to repair a torn right quad tendon. He played in 13 games before the league was shut down, and in the last five of those he averaged 18.6 points and 4.8 rebounds a game.
Indiana enters the bubble as the five seed in the East, tied with the sixth-seed Sixers, and just two games back of the four seed Heat. There could be a lot of shakeups in the middle of the East standings, which would impact first-round playoff matchups.
The Pacers are a much more dangerous threat with Oladipo in the lineup, but the player and the team need to decide if now is the time to push that advantage.
Coronavirus cases are surging in Florida. The NBA’s bubble is in Florida.
Is that a problem?
Theoretically, the bubble location shouldn’t matter. The NBA’s setup at Disney World is designed for players never to come into too close of contact with the surrounding community. So, it wouldn’t matter how prevalent coronavirus is in the surrounding community.
Unless someone violates the protocols.
Which nobody eeeeever expected would happen.
Kings center Richaun Holmes:
— Richaun Holmes (@Rich_Holmes22) July 13, 2020
Presumably, Holmes – like Rockets forward Bruno Caboclo – faces a 10-day quarantine
That’s the way to ensure Holmes didn’t contract coronavirus from the deliverer. Holmes would almost certainly test positive and/or show symptoms within 10 days if he has coronavirus. A player spreading coronavirus within the bubble is the ultimate fear for the NBA.
Unlike some other players, Holmes even vouched for the quality of food brought to his room. Yet, he still wanted outside delivery.
Maybe there’s a safe way to get it. The deliverer – away from people – could set the food down at the edge of the campus then retreat at least six feet. At that point, Holmes could go pick it up.
But without those precautions, Holmes put himself – and therefore everyone else in the bubble – at too great of a risk. Hence, the lengthy quarantine.
Holmes has been essential to Sacramento’s turnaround. Yes, Marvin Bagley III should be healthier. But the energetic Holmes is the Kings’ most dependable center.
To make the playoffs, they’ll need him following the rules and allowed outside his room.
On June 23, 16 NBA players tested positive for coronavirus. Between June 24-29, nine more NBA players tested positive.
But that downward trend took a sharp reversal in July.
At least 19 more players, two after arriving at Disney World, have tested positive for coronavirus
NBA release:
Of the 322 players tested for COVID-19 since arriving on the NBA Campus July 7, two have returned confirmed positive tests while in quarantine. Those players never cleared quarantine and have since left the Campus to isolate at home or in isolation housing.
Since July 1, during in-market testing, 19 NBA players newly tested positive. These players are staying in their home markets and recovering until they are cleared under CDC guidelines and NBA rules for leaving home isolation and joining the Campus.
Those 19 new positive tests are a disturbingly high number.
It can be difficult to compare different date ranges. June 23 is only a single day, but as the first day of in-market testing, it covered weeks of players potentially contracting coronavirus. The second testing period (June 24-29) is shorter than the July period (which varied based on whether teams departed July 7, 8 or 9 for Disney World).
But, ideally, the number of cases would’ve shrunk as players became increasingly immersed in the NBA’s plan, which called for greater precautions and testing.
The league and teams should investigate why there were so many new cases in July – then explain the findings to the public. Given the lack of transparency around the restart, I wouldn’t hold my breath, though.
At least there are no known positive tests from players who’ve been given free reign within the bubble. That’s the most alarming scenario. Two players testing positive during their in-room quarantines appears to be the system working.
However, the league should confirm that anyone traveling with those two players didn’t become infected en route. A false negative could be catastrophic.
This brings the minimum total of NBA players who’ve tested positive for coronavirus under the league’s restart plan to 44.
And there’s two positive tests at Disney World.* Plus everyone who tested positive before June 23 (at least 10 players**) and tested positive only outside the NBA’s system.
That’s a LARGE segment of NBA players – at least 54.
*It’s possible these two players previously tested positive, tested negative, traveled to Orlando then tested positive again. So, they’re not necessarily new cases.
**Jazz stars Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell, Pistons big Christian Wood, four Nets including Kevin Durant, Celtics guard Marcus Smart and two Lakers.
Yet, it still doesn’t say much about the safety of the NBA bubble, which is just getting underway. The outside world is dangerously full of coronavirus. That’s what all these positive tests so far show.
Additional positive tests – by players fully involved in the bubble – will be far more chilling for the NBA’s planned season completion.