The NBA is going to expand its Orlando bubble during the playoffs.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the NBA and National Basketball Players Association have agreed to allow players to welcome four guests — not counting children — into the Wide World of Sports bubble after the first round of the playoffs, which are set to start Aug. 17. The second round, the conference semifinals, is scheduled to start Aug. 31. Each player is allowed one guest ticket for each playoff game, “plus an additional admission for a child.”
Wojnarowski reported that the guests must be family members or “established longstanding personal friends,” and cannot be current or prospective staff members such as agents or trainers. The memo also reportedly says guests cannot be “Any individual the player has not previously met in person or with whom the player has had limited in-person interactions. (For example)… known by the player only through social media or an intermediary.”
Prior to attending any functions or games, guests will be tested for COVID-19 and must quarantine for seven days — some of which must be done in Orlando.
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No players have tested positive since the NBA started playing games in Orlando July 30, returning after the league was shut down when the Utah Jazz’s Rudy Gobert tested positive for the coronavirus in mid-March. The league brought 22 teams to Orlando, with each franchise playing eight games to determine seeding for 16 playoff spots.
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