Getting Used to the New N.B.A. Inside the Bubble

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The 22 teams invited to Walt Disney World for the N.B.A. restart left 18 combined roster spots unused. Teams were allowed to name 13 to 17 players in their 37-person traveling parties, but only 11 teams (Boston, Denver, Indiana, the Los Angeles Lakers, Memphis, Miami, Oklahoma City, Orlando, Sacramento, Toronto and Utah) chose to include the maximum.

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The Portland Trail Blazers brought a league-low 13 players to Florida. The Nets only registered a 14-man roster after losing numerous players either to coronavirus-related absences (Spencer Dinwiddie, DeAndre Jordan and Taurean Prince), personal reasons (Wilson Chandler) or injury (Nicolas Claxton, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving). The Nets also lost Michael Beasley, one of the substitute players they signed earlier this month, because of a positive coronavirus test.

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At least five of Sacramento’s 17 players are unavailable entering the team’s first scrimmage Wednesday night against Miami. That includes De’Aaron Fox, Sacramento’s star point guard, who last week in practice sprained his left ankle — the same injury that sidelined Fox for 17 games in November and December. Harrison Barnes and Alex Len are still recovering from the coronavirus, Richaun Holmes has only just rejoined the team after being forced to self-quarantine for 10 additional days after crossing a campus border without authorization to pick up food and Marvin Bagley sustained a foot injury in Sunday night’s practice. Len told reporters Monday that he tested positive for the coronavirus on 24 consecutive days before finally registering two consecutive negative tests.

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The N.B.A. has announced that all year-end award voting will be based on statistics accrued through March 11, when the season was abruptly suspended in response to the coronavirus outbreak. And Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo remains a heavy favorite to become the 12th repeat most valuable player in league history. The first 11 were: Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Moses Malone, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Tim Duncan, Steve Nash, LeBron James and Stephen Curry.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/22/sports/basketball/nba-bubble-practice.html