Front Burner - The NBA to restart in a COVID-19 hotspot

Episode Date: June 26, 2020

This week, the Toronto Raptors touched down in Florida. Soon, 21 other NBA teams will join them in the state, as the NBA gears up to restart the 2019-20 season in Disney World. Meanwhile, coronavirus cases are surging in Florida. More than a hundred pages of health and safety protocols have been established, covering everything from prohibitions on doubles ping-pong, to intensive testing procedures. Today on Front Burner, freelance NBA reporter Alex Wong walks us through how this is all going to work, and whether it's worth it.

In the Dragon's Den, a simple pitch can lead to a life-changing connection. Watch new episodes of Dragon's Den free on CBC Gem. Brought to you in part by National Angel Capital Organization, empowering Canada's entrepreneurs through angel investment and industry connections. This is a CBC Podcast. So have you checked the numbers right now in Florida? Oh, of course. I'm tracking it every day. And if I'm not tracking it, it was like over 5,000 today. Earlier this week, the Toronto Raptors flew to Florida. And soon another 21 NBA teams from across the U.S.

will join them there to live and play at Disney World in what's supposed to be a kind of bubble. Alex Wong is a freelance reporter who's been tracking the relaunch of the NBA as they try to salvage the 2020 season. And he tells me the plan is to play eight regular season games at the end of July and then jump into the playoffs. And if everything goes well, the playoffs will start in mid-August. And I believe the latest date the season can end, Game 7 of the NBA Finals, would be somewhere around October 12th to the 15th. The NBA has issued 113 pages worth of health and safety protocols. But there's a lot of questions about whether it'll be enough to keep everyone safe.

The cases are only going up. The curve is only going up. But that's one of the things that I'm sure we'll talk about it. But like, like, the league just seems very determined now to just move forward with this. Today on FrontBurner, the NBA's plan to play through the pandemic, how exactly this is in Disney World of all places? Well, the easiest connection to make is that the League has a huge television contract with ESPN, which is a Disney entity. with ESPN, which is a Disney entity. And obviously, a huge motivation behind this is to recoup a lot of the lost revenue that's come with the season being suspended. So it makes sense for Disney World to step up and accommodate this and for the league to work together with them to create this campus. Obviously, it's a bit unfortunate, you know, very unfortunate, given when you're looking at the numbers of the day to day COVID-19 cases in Florida right now.

I'm curious, if you could take us like behind the scenes here a little bit about how we got to this point, where the players in the leagues and the owners were all on board for this plan. Was there a lot of debate and discussion, I presume, you know, leading up to this moment? Yeah, so there has been a lot of back and forth. So I think this plan that is going to move forward was proposed by the owners in conjunction with the commissioner, Adam Silver Silver to the players and the players association have had several discussions one of the earliest discussions was a reported phone call with just the top players in the league so we're talking about guys like LeBron James Kyle Lowry from the Raptors I believe was on that call Kawhi Leonard Giannis Atantakoumpou. So maybe to say that it was players who have the most to lose

from the season being canceled, because these are guys on teams that have a realistic chance at winning a championship. And when you look at someone like LeBron James, who is obviously the most prominent voice in the league and amongst the players, he is going for his fourth championship, and he's turning 36 in december and you know setting aside all of the health and safety concerns just as a competitive basketball player he obviously does not want to see this opportunity to win a championship slip away for our team and for our city of los angeles we've we've been through a lot you know this year you know um you know you you look at the death of ko death of Kobe Bryant that we had to deal with.

You know, you come to the point where the playoffs are almost around the corner and then, you know, it stopped because of a world pandemic and COVID-19. So, you know, we just all had to be at bay and just kind of wait around and see what was going on and see what was happening. But understanding that the health of, you know know of every individual is so much more important at that point in time um than worrying about you know chasing a ring or chasing the championship so very early on there was buy-in from the top of the league in terms of the superstars and it seemed like from all reports that you know the players had a unified front in terms of being supportive of moving forward with this. But then there were reports that came out last week.

Other players like Kyrie Irving on the Brooklyn Nets and Dwight Howard on the Lakers, they had organized a separate call to talk about the merits of returning, especially during the social unrest and all of the protests that are happening in the US. During a call with nearly 100 players Friday night, on the 90-minute call, Irving reportedly

made the case that resuming the season would be detrimental to the players' work on social justice and police reform. Dwight Howard agrees. In a statement to CNN, he said in part, I agree with Kyrie. Basketball or entertainment period isn't needed at this moment and will only be a distraction. So there's definitely a faction of players amongst the approximately 450 players in the league that have concerns about this whether it's health concerns uh you know there's definitely a group of players who believe that they don't want the headlines to move off the social issues right now back to basketball so there's been back and

forth there and the league you know has told the players that if they don't want to play, they will not be suspended. There will be no repercussions if they're not comfortable going. The only repercussion would be they would not be paid. So on the health side, I saw that Justice Winslow of the Memphis Grizzlies, he posted on his Instagram story that, quote, this shit ain't even about basketball or our safety anymore. It's all about the Benjamins, baby. Not sure if they really care if we get coronavirus. You know, we didn't actually agree to be in a bubble, to be on lockdown,

to not have our families, to, you know, be exposed to the virus, you know, have all these workers around. We didn't agree to all that. We agreed to come back to play. And, you know, it's up to the league and the PA to figure out the best way. But it's still to the league and the PA to figure out the best way but it's it's still a little iffy I don't know if it's the smartest thing for us to come back and play right now it's hard to disagree with that sentiment you know I think I think you have to give credit to

the NBA in that they have spoken obviously with a lot of experts and they've done their research to put this bubble in place because a lot of health experts have been interviewed about this. And they have much less skepticism about the league's plans than, say, you know, myself, or maybe you do. You know, I actually have looked at that plan, and it is really quite creative. It's not the classic basketball season. But certainly for the people who are thirsting for basketball, who love basketball the way I do, it's something that I think is a sound plan. I was very pleased to see that the intent was not reckless at all. They really wanted to make sure that the safety of the players and the people associated with the players was paramount. They believe that, you know, given the circumstances, this is about as foolproof

of a plan as there can be. But at the same time, it's not 100% foolproof. And you obviously can't have that during a global pandemic. And what Justice Winslow said, I think echoes a lot of the players concerns, and you've already seen players drop out for those reasons. lot of the players concerns and you've already seen players drop out for those reasons and and sources have told espn that the league and the players association agreed on this enhanced insurance plan for players in orlando that would cover a career-ending injury related to coronavirus so the stakes are really high here i mean it seems like there's already an acknowledgement that uh that this could have devastating consequence. Yeah, and that was one of the grimmest news items that I've read since covering the NBA.

They obviously are acknowledging these risks are at hand. And I feel like we talk a lot about these players. And I feel like a lot of us just make the blanket statement of, hey, they're in their 20s, they're in their 30s. A lot of us just make the blanket statement of, hey, they're in their 20s, they're in their 30s. That's not a demographic that's affected by COVID-19, which we know based on the stats that that is not true. And we're still just finding out about the long-term effects for when you test positive and recover. And also, we're not thinking about the team staff that's going to be going. A lot of the head coaches are 50 or over 60. going. A lot of the head coaches are 50 or over 60. And, you know, the league actually was pushing for a time of maybe not allowing certain coaches to go to this campus because of their age. And

the coaches association pushed back with claims that this was ageism and this would prevent coaches from getting jobs down the line. So as of right now, I think everyone that is going to the campus is obviously going to be subject to tests before they go. And regardless of your age, if they are part of the team, they will be going to the campus. In the Dragon's Den, a simple pitch can lead to a life-changing connection. Watch new episodes of Dragon's Den free on CBC Gem. Brought to you in part by National Angel Capital Organization, empowering Canada's entrepreneurs through angel investment and industry connections. Hi, it's Ramit Sethi here.

You may have seen my money show on Netflix. I've been talking about money for 20 years. I've talked to millions of people and I have some startling numbers to share with you. Did you know that of the people I speak to, 50% of them do not know their own household income? That's not a typo, 50%. That's because money is confusing. In my new book and podcast, Money for Couples, I help you and your partner create a financial vision together. To listen to this podcast, just search for Money for Couples. Obviously, it's not, as you said, not just health concerns that some players are talking about. It's

also about this fear of detracting from the moment we're in, in terms of the Black Lives Matter movement and the protests that we're seeing. Tell me a little bit about what we've been hearing from players about their concerns that this might, you know, take away from the Black Lives Matter protests. Yeah, you know, Kyrie Irving and Dwight Howard have been most well-spoken in that regard. I would, I want to win a championship so bad. You know, I just personally have seen so much pain from our people. You know, I just, there's so much stuff going on in our world, man.

And I just feel like, you know, it's just, we don't need to get distracted by anything. I would definitely want to play, win a championship, but I don't want anything to distract us from really what's going on in our world. It's hurting. It's hurting me. Along with Avery Bradley, who is on the Lakers, and he's on a team that has realistic chances to win a championship, and Avery Bradley has withdrawn from going to this campus uh more for personal reasons um but

you know in the past few weeks he has also spoken out a lot um you know about how he doesn't want the nba to be a distraction um there's been other players as well on twitter just voicing their opinions lou williams on the los angelesippers. And I think it's important too, because a majority of these players who are speaking out are on teams that can win the championship and have the most to gain from going to the campus. And, you know, they have been at the forefront of, you know, letting the public know that this is something that they are extremely concerned about and giving a lot of thought to. But at the same time, I think there's a group of players who believe that their voices will be heard even more when they go to this campus. And you know, a lot of eyes are going to

be on the NBA returning, and they can use their platform while on this campus to continue to speak on and promote the social issues that they care about. So despite the some of the resistance from players, despite the uptake that we're seeing in Florida, this plan is going ahead. And I want to ask you a bit about what the safety protocols are that are being put in place to try and make this, I guess they're calling it a campus or maybe you call it a bubble, try to make it the safest it can be. Yeah. So based on the health and safety protocols that were released, testing will be done regularly. You know, obviously before the players head in to the campus, they will go through a series of tests.

Nikola Jokic tested positive in Serbia. Right. Here's exactly what happens. He can't get to Denver yet. So once Jokic arrives in Denver, league protocols require that he undergoes a cardiac screening, a test negative once for the coronavirus, before he can join the team in workouts. It's expected he'll have two negative tests in Serbia before cleared to travel to the U.S. We're really going to have three tests.

Right now, you know, we've already heard players, you know, announce that they've tested positive recently and they have to quarantine for two weeks before joining their team. And, you know, while on the campus, players have the option of wearing a smart ring, which will track their data and is supposed to be a good predictor based on the health factors of you know whether they might be susceptible to a positive test and and the league is planning on like i mentioned having positive tests so you know if anyone does return a positive test they're going to be subject to a second test immediately to rule out a false positive and if both tests are positive then you know the player staff or coach or whoever it might be is going to be sequestered basically

they're going to be isolated in this isolation house and then in order for them to return after 14 days you know they have to show no symptoms and things of that nature and within the health and safety protocols there's also a lot of rules while the players are on campus so they're staying at three different hotels the 22 teams um and it's kind of funny because the three are basically the hotels are basically divvied up based on where the teams are in the standings so the raptors because of the nba championship i cannot believe this with like the top seven teams um and players are not allowed to travel between those hotels to hang out with other players and there's all these other rules in there too where um no doubles

ping pong is allowed um because of social distancing and because players love to play cards there's a specific rule in there that says that uh a deck of cards a new deck of cards has to be used for every game and i saw that there's also an anonymous tip line so that you can rat out someone if you see them breaking these rules yeah so the the players and i guess everyone that is going to be on the campus are encouraged um you know to speak out on this behavior and it's obviously led to a lot of jokes and memes about how some of the top players like a lebron um is going to report false news in order to make his championship run a little easier but yeah you know all jokes aside though like you know the

league it seems like they have sat down and tried to think of every single thing that would need to be addressed but at the end of the day it's really like they're creating a brand new sports league right right and i was taken by this like very elaborate system they've created that involves six tiers of personnel. So like the players and the coaches have maximum access and sort of freedom to move around on the campus. And then you have like the next tier of, you know, other support staff, and then you have caterers and manicurists and barbers and all these different people who will sort of have different rankings within the system that will determine how much access and mobility they have in this space. But the staff at Disney go home at

the end of the day. I mean, they are not staying on the campus. And that strikes me as like a really a real vulnerability with this whole attempt to create a bubble. Definitely. And that's the one thing that has stood out to everyone who has read these health and safety protocols. And that's the one thing that has stood out to to everyone who has read these health and safety protocols and that's a major concern and one of the things that the league uh you know vows to do if somebody tests positive is to do some kind of contact tracing um that will be sensor based a video based so say if a player tests positive they'll be able to trace back obviously to everybody that he's around but that leads to another question of what happens when, you know, let's use, again, LeBron and the Lakers as an example.

What happens if that entire team or seven members of the team test positive in the middle of the playoffs? Given the schedule that's in place right now, there's no room for them to kind of temporarily suspend the playoffs if something like that was going to happen. And that's the other thing is the integrity of this whole experiment in terms of if players are dropping out, if certain teams are eliminated from the playoffs because of COVID-19, then what does it really mean that you won a championship on this campus? Right. Well, the other thing is that we have all these rules,

these very strict rules that are governing the player's behavior off the court. But then once the players are on the court, so they can't play doubles ping pong off the court, but then you're on the court and you're sweaty, you're bump you know, bumping into each other, you're yelling, you're touching the ball. So how are these rules going to work when it actually comes time to play? And, you know, that's been the contradiction that's been pointed out is that all of these social distancing rules are in place for when the players are off the court, even though, like you mentioned, they're going to be in close physical proximity, sweating on each other and things of that nature while they're on the court. The only thing that the league has really put in as part of their health and safety protocol

memo is to encourage players from avoiding things because players have routines. So certain players will, you know, kiss the ball before the free throw or, you know, they'll lick their hands a lot, you know, when they're bringing the ball up court i know kyle lowry's a guy who does that all the time right for toronto leonard finds lowry lowry's been hot that continues kyle lowry so they've mentioned that you know to to refrain from doing that obviously there's no way to actually police that and these players are such creatures of habit that i think it'll be kind of hard for them i mean grabbing a ball and kissing it i think will be a thing where they can consciously avoid but there's going to be a lot of subconscious actions do you think that's going

to affect the way they play the game i think honestly it's going to come down to the individual players right i'm sure there are going to be groups of players that are very self-conscious of this as they're playing and there's other players that you know could care less once they get on a basketball court the other thing that i feel like will more affect them is just the environment right so no outside fans obviously are allowed at any of these games so it'll be empty arenas there will be a PA announcer there and there's been talks about you know whether to pipe in crowd noise or play music but basically these guys are gonna play in empty arenas and you know you remove the home court advantage from the playoffs and you know i'm sure like especially toronto raptors fans you know here

in canada know how much of an advantage that was for the raptors so in that way it's gonna it's gonna remove some advantages for the better teams in the league i also feel like watching a game will look and feel so different to have no fans there. It could be all just squeaking shoes and trash talking. Yeah, so there's been a lot of push for players to be mic'd up because this is, you know, no better time to get that kind of content out. Do you see, is there possibly a silver lining to this that we might actually watch a different kind of basketball, a more stripped down basketball that might be intriguing in its own way? Yeah, you know, what's interesting to me, you know, these guys play pickup games all the time in the summer. And, you know, those games can get awfully competitive as well.

And that's what the feel of it is going to be like. But to be honest, I mean, we're about a month out. You know, the Raptors are already in Florida, you know, because they're the only team in Canada. And, you know, they couldn't, they would have had to quarantine in Toronto if they got together here and then quarantine again when they went to Florida. So instead, they just went to Florida first. You know, we're still a month away. And, you know, technically the Raptors are trying to repeat as NBA champions. But right now, it's just hard. You know, you pay attention to the numbers that are happening in Florida on a day-to-day

in terms of the COVID-19 cases. And you just look around everything that's happening in the US and around the world. It's hard to even think about the basketball aspect of it, you know? Do you think this is worth it? No, I don't you know and you know for me you know just speaking personally i mean covering the nba it is uh it would benefit me um you know in uh individually to to have the league back um to be able to do work and things of that nature but you know i can't sit here and say and support this idea, to be honest. I think as the days go by,

as we're getting more information and knowing how the players feel as well, and knowing that there's a huge group of players that are, you know, risking their lives and, you know, leaving their families during a global pandemic for two to three months for this, I don't think it's worth it at all.

Alex, thank you so much for speaking with me. Thank you. It was a pleasure. That's all for this week. Fremdferner comes to you from CBC News and CBC Podcasts. The show was produced this week by Imogen Burchard, Elaine Chao, Shannon Higgins, Ali Janes, and Nahaya Tzizouche. Derek Vanderwyk does our sound design with help from Matt Cameron. Our music is by Joseph Chabison of Boombox Sound. The executive producer of Front Burner is Nick McCabe-Locos. I'm Josh Bloch. Thanksbc.ca slash podcasts.