ORLANDO - The Orlando Magic are most likely going to Disney World – and so, too, are 21 other NBA teams as the NBA looks to restart its regular season tentatively on July 31 following a nearly three-month suspension because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The NBA’s much-anticipated resumption and the revised plan going forward were formulated by Commissioner Adam Silver and the motion was almost unanimously approved Thursday during a vote by the league’s Board of Governors. Approval from the NBA’s Players Association, whose leadership has worked closely with Silver on devising the plan of return, is expected to easily approve the plan as well on Friday.
The dramatically improvised course of action will feature 22 of the NBA’s 30 teams playing regular-season and playoff games in a campus-style environment at Disney World’s ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in nearby Lake Buena Vista, Fla. Social-distancing measures, daily temperature testing and other safety procedures will be enacted in hopes of safeguarding players, coaches, referees and NBA staffers from another potential outbreak of the virus.
Fans will not be allowed into the Disney World Complex to view the NBA games, but many of those league-wide showdowns will be televised nationally on ESPN/ABC or Turner Sports. All Magic regular-season games will continue to be shown exclusively on Fox Sports Florida.
``We appreciate the leadership of NBA Commissioner Adam Silver in this unprecedented time and we look forward to getting back to basketball,’’ Magic CEO Alex Martins said in a statement. ``While there is still work to be done, we applaud all the effort and collaboration that has gone into finding a safe, competitive format. It has always been our feeling that sports have the ability to bring people together and we look forward to restarting the NBA season while using that platform to drive meaningful social impact at this period of time.’’
Disney is a ``Champions of the Community’’ corporate partner of the Magic and the two have had a strong working relationship together for years. The Disney logo has appeared on Magic game jerseys since the 2017-18 NBA season. Approximately 19 miles separate the Magic’s home at the Amway Center in downtown Orlando and Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex.
The regular season is expected to resume on July 31 and the last possible date for an NBA Finals game would be Oct. 12 – a dramatically revised calendar that will almost assuredly push back the start of the 2020-21 season. If, as tentatively scheduled, the season resumes on July 31, then the 2020 NBA Draft Lottery would be rescheduled for Aug. 25, the 2020 NBA Draft would be held on Oct. 15 and the 2020-21 NBA regular season would likely begin on Dec. 1, 2020. The league’s hope is that by pushing back next season that it will allow fans to return to arenas for next season’s game action.
The upcoming resumed season will include 22 teams – nine from the Eastern Conference and 13 from the Western Conference based on the league’s standings from March 11.
The Magic, one of the hottest teams in the NBA with a three-game winning streak and eight victories in a 12-game span when the season was shuttered, are 30-35 and in the top eight in the East. Orlando, which sits just a half-game back of No. 7 Brooklyn, will be attempting to qualify for the NBA’s postseason for a second straight year. Initially, the Magic were hoping to feast on a remaining 17-game schedule filled mostly with non-playoff teams, but the schedule ahead will now be revised. And the Magic are confident that they will be ready for whatever lies ahead because of the commitment of their players throughout the time away from basketball.
``First, I would like to pass along my wishes for everyone’s health, safety and well-being during these turbulent times,’’ Magic President of Basketball Operations Jeff Weltman said in a statement. ``We are a playoff team. We have earned the right to be a playoff team and we look forward to participating in the playoffs in whatever format the league deems most equitable.
``We are ready to go,’’ Weltman added. ``Our guys have worked very hard during this hiatus. The majority of our guys have remained in Orlando. They’ve stayed attached to their programs, to the coaching staff and attached to each other. We’re optimistic that when the time comes to return to work that they’ve put a good foundation in place to build upon.’’
Milwaukee, Toronto, Boston, Miami, Indiana, Philadelphia, Brooklyn, Orlando and Washington will be the participating teams from the Eastern Conference. The Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers, Denver, Utah, Oklahoma City, Houston, Dallas, Memphis, Portland, New Orleans, Sacramento, San Antonio and Phoenix – teams either in the top eight or within six games of the No. 8 spot – will appear from the West. Eight teams – Charlotte, Chicago, New York, Detroit, Atlanta, Cleveland, Phoenix, Minnesota and Golden State – are done for the season and will not play in Orlando.
Teams will play at least eight regular-season games and then there potentially could be a play-in series of games to determine the eighth playoff seed in each conference. A play-in series will be held only if the No. 9 seed is within four games of the No. 8 seed. The No. 8 seed would need to only win once, while the No. 9 seed would need to win twice.
When the season was suspended on March 11, the Magic had a 5 1/2-game lead on No. 9 Washington in the East. In the West, No. 8 Memphis leads Portland, New Orleans and Sacramento by 3 ½ games, leads San Antonio by four games and Phoenix by six games.
The Magic reopened the Amway Center to players for individual workouts three weeks ago, and soon the full team is expected to begin practice sessions to prep for the resumption of the season. The Magic have practiced a strong set of guidelines designed for protection during individual workouts, limiting the numbers of players and staff in the building at one time, testing and reading temperatures on a daily basis and requiring that masks be worn when players aren’t conducting on-court drills.
By mid-July, most of the 22 teams involved in the resumption of the NBA season will likely be in Orlando for practices, scrimmage games and prep.
The Magic will be attempting to rediscover the chemistry and flow that it found about a month before the season was suspended in the wake of Utah Jazz players Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell testing positive for the coronavirus. By mid-March, Orlando seemed to be hitting its stride and started resembling the team that it thought it could be before a rash of injuries hit. In addition to distancing itself from others out of the playoff hunt and securing the No. 8 seed, the Magic surged to within a half-game of Brooklyn and notched a 2-0 record in the season series with the Nets.
In the 12 games prior to the stoppage of the season – eight of them victories – the Magic offense shot up to elite levels by dramatically adjusting their pace and trying to attack foes earlier in the shot clock. From Feb. 10 through March 10, the Magic ranked first in the NBA in scoring (120.8), first in assists per game (32.1), first in field goal makes per game (45.1), second in field goal percentage (48.6 percent) and 13thin 3-point percentage (37 percent). Those were, of course, major improvements over the first 53 games of a choppy, up-and-down season. In those first 53 games, the Magic averaged 103.1 points per game, 22.8 assists per game, 37.9 field goal makes a game, 43.1 percent overall shooting and 33.4 percent 3-point shooting.
``Our guys have worked extremely hard and made a great commitment to stay ready,’’ Magic head coach Steve Clifford said. ``We have played our way into playoff position and are certainly looking forward to the opportunity ahead. We can’t wait to get back in the gym and get to work.’’
Note: The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Orlando Magic. All opinions expressed by John Denton are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Orlando Magic or their Basketball Operations staff, partners or sponsors.
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