Tag: coronavirus

San Antonio Spurs will continue to play without fans at their home games

The San Antonio Spurs, who on Saturday beat the Raptors in their 2020-21 regular season home opener, will continue to play without fans at the AT&T Center.

“Welcoming fans back to the AT&T Center remains a major organizational priority for all of us,” said Spurs Sports & Entertainment CEO RC Buford. “While we are confident in the plans and protocols we have in place, we are uncomfortable hosting fans at this moment as the COVID-19 numbers and data in our community continue to trend in the wrong direction.”

A team of SS&E officials remain in daily contact with a wide range of local, regional and national officials and public health experts to ensure a safe environment when fans return to the AT&T Center.

“It’s impossible to explain how much we miss seeing and hearing our fans,” said Buford. “We will continue to work tirelessly to do everything in our control to allow us to open our doors to our fans in a safe and timely manner.”

Houston Rockets will allow partial fan attendance at home games

FROM THE HOUSTON ROCKETS

In anticipation of the start of the 2020-21 NBA season and the goal to return with a limited number of fans and guests, the Houston Rockets and Toyota Center have established health and safety protocols to create a safe, yet fun environment for fans.

The Rockets and Toyota Center have developed the following protocols and guidelines in partnership with the City of Houston, the Houston Venue and Event Task Force, Memorial Hermann, and the NBA:

Reduced capacity will be enforced for Rockets games and all other arena events to allow for proper distancing between sets of guests.

Ticketed fans will be required to answer a series of health questions before entering the arena. Fans seated in close proximity to the court will require additional league mandated testing protocols.

Proper face masks will be required for ages 2 and up and must be worn at all times inside the arena, unless actively eating or drinking.

No bags are permitted, however lockers will be available for rent.
All tickets will be digital. Guests will manage and scan their touchless tickets through the Houston Rockets mobile app.

To promote social distancing and sanitization, floor markers and signs promoting social distancing and hand sanitization stations will be placed around the arena.

Frequent sanitization of all high touch surface areas during games and events such as seats, handrails, door knob, restrooms, countertops, etc.
All staff will receive additional health and safety training. In addition, staff will also have their temperature checked and will wear appropriate personal protective equipment.

All point of sales at Toyota Center will be cashless. Plexiglas barriers will be installed at all concession and retail stands to reduce direct contact between guests and staff. A touchless food and beverage ordering system option will allow fans to receive their orders at their designated seat to maximize social distancing and the overall fan experience.

For now, Toronto Raptors will allow partial fan attendance at games

As the Toronto Raptors prepare to play home games for the opening of the 2020-21 NBA season at Tampa’s Amalie Arena, the team announced plans to host a limited number of fans beginning with its pre-season game against the Miami Heat on Friday, December 18.

Tickets for the pre-season game, and the first 11 regular-season games, will go on sale Thursday morning, Dec. 17.

Fan attendance protocols will involve extensive health and safety measures, including socially distanced seat availability. There will be fewer than 3,200 seats available for the pre-season game, and 3,800 seats for regular-season games. There will be no floor seats, and no seats sold within 30 feet of the court.

Additional measures include: all fans two years of age or older being required to wear a mask for the duration of their time within the venue; enhanced surface and air disinfection systems; physical distancing in the stands and while navigating the venue; a health survey screening for all guests as they enter the facility; cashless payments in the parking lot and for food and beverage services; and bags are prohibited for all Raptors games at the arena.

“In these unique and challenging times, the Raptors are grateful to be able to work closely with the NBA, the Lightning organization and local public health officials to create a safe opportunity for a limited number of fans to take in games,” said Tom McDonald, Vice President of Ticket Sales and Service for MLSE. “As the Raptors call Tampa home for the start of the NBA season, the team looks forward to the opportunity to thank the community for their support while continually emphasizing the important steps required of all of us for a full return of fans when it is safe to do so.”

On the Detroit Pistons preseason opening night scene

The Pistons went above and beyond in their quest to make their first home preseason game feel as regular as possible in the wake of coronavirus-related restrictions. The team hosted the Knicks Friday on NBA preseason opening night, and will host them again today. Here’s the Detroit Free Press on what the preseason opening night scene was like in Detroit:

After walking into an NBA arena for the first time in nine months Friday, the most surprising aspect wasn’t the new COVID-19 protocols for team personnel and media, or the absence of fans in the arena — those were anticipated changes the rest of the sports world has already embraced.

What stood out was the loudness, and pervasiveness, of the music. The Detroit Pistons tipped off their preseason slate Friday, and it was their first live basketball game since their 2019-20 season ended March 11. Throughout the entire game and in the time leading up to it, Little Caesars Arena played the usual mix of top-40 rap hits and stadium classics.

I, like much of the rest of the world, have been working from home and avoiding loud, public environments since mid-March. I’m not sure I had heard or even thought of “Yeah!” by Usher during the nine months leading into the game. But hearing it while the Pistons played the New York Knicks made me realize how much I missed those environments.

It was one of multiple steps the Pistons took to create something resembling a normal game day environment. John Mason, their long-tenured public address announcer, did his usual pregame introduction routine. Cheerleaders still danced in the stands. Fake crowd noise reacted after every made and missed shot. Eventually, it all melded into something resembling a basketball game in a normal year.

Heat preseason home opener will be different

Things are different for everyone in 2020, in and out of sports. Including, of course, the Heat, who like all NBA teams will have a home arena environment that faces serious adjustments due to the coronavirus pandemic. Here’s the South Florida Sun Sentinel on the Heat’s first of two preseason games, which will be at home in Miami Monday night against the New Orleans Pelicans:

After the NBA completed last season in a quarantine bubble at Disney World, the coronavirus pandemic will have the Heat playing their 7 p.m. preseason opener against the New Orleans Pelicans in a setting like no other in the two decades they have called AmericanAirlines Arena home.

No fans. The coaching staff wearing masks. No dancers, mascot or any timeout entertainers on the court, due to protocol limitations.

“I think everybody is just getting used to the fact that nothing is the way it was before,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “The quicker you’re able to accept that and make the necessary adjustments, the better.

“Our world is different. But we have an opportunity to continue to compete and continue our season. So I think everybody is just grateful for that, even though it will have a slightly different feel.”

Three members of Raptors organization test positive for COVID-19

During the league-mandated testing period prior to NBA training camp, which began a few days ago, three members of the Toronto Raptors organization tested positive for COVID-19.

From the Raptors: “All three are, and will continue to, self-isolate away from the rest of the organization. Adherence to protocols, follow-up testing and contact tracing has so far revealed no spread to other members of the Raptors organization. We will continue to follow safety protocols, and will update the situation as appropriate.”

And per the Toronto Sun: The team held its first full practice a day earlier and afterward head coach Nick Nurse and point guard Fred VanVleet talked of the challenges of staying safe this season while they are located in Tampa Bay. Florida is, and has been, of course, a COVID hot spot. “My role is to, you know, just constantly be on them and be a reminder constantly of our actions and our behaviour, and how impactful it is not only themselves, their families, our team, the organization, there’s lots on the line if you’re not doing the best you can with the COVID-19 protocols,” Nurse said Sunday.”

Nuggets players begin mandatory coronavirus testing

Most teams around the league — specifically the 22 that have been invited by the NBA to resume the 2019-20 season at Disney in Florida — will be going through something similar to what is described below by the Denver Post:

Tuesday marks the most formal operations the NBA has seen since the coronavirus abruptly forced a stoppage in play more than 100 days ago.

All Nuggets players and staffers will undergo mandatory coronavirus testing beginning Tuesday, which includes a high-sensitivity PCR (polymerase chain reaction) and a high-sensitivity serology/antibody test. Players, team staffers and even Nuggets officials who aren’t planning on traveling to Orlando to resume the season must undergo the testing.

PCR testing (nasal swabs) will be conducted every other day for the duration of the season, in addition to daily health monitoring such as temperature checks. The antibody test will be repeated in the event of a positive test.

It’s crunch time. We’re now in a crucial period. It’s certainly quite possible that over the next few days, some players likely will test positive for coronavirus. If it’s managed correctly, such results won’t hinder the league’s attempt to resume play in late July as planned.

NBA working out details regarding roster depth in return to play plan

The NBA continues to make plans for league play to resume with 22 teams at Disney World in Orlando this summer. But part of the process is preparing for what might go wrong. One issue is if a team finds itself in need of additional players, as replacements due to injury, sickness, or simply for additional roster depth. Via the Deseret News:

According to reports by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Bobby Marks, the league is planning on having a one-week ‘transaction window’ for all 30 NBA teams beginning on June 22, ahead of the tentative July 31 resumption of games, in which teams can fill open roster spots, sign or waive players, and convert two-way deals to standard NBA contracts…

According to Wojnarowski, teams are pushing back on the league’s preference to limit rosters to 15 players and to leave two-way players out of the bubble unless they are converted to a standard NBA contract before the team arrives in Orlando.

Teams would prefer to have two-way players on hand while in Florida so that if a player suffers an injury or becomes infected with the coronavirus after the ‘transaction window’, a two-way player could be made a substitute without having to go through quarantine before joining the team.

For now, the plan is for action to resume on July 31. We can’t wait.

Will Pat Riley not join the Heat at Disney Wide World of Sports this summer?

The NBA this past week nailed down their format for the conclusion of the 2019-20 season, to take place at Disney Wide World of Sports in Orlando this summer. But there is plenty left to figure out. From major things like an exact schedule to smaller details like the very exact number of people each team is allowed to bring into the quarantine bubble setting.

Here’s the South Florida Sun Sentinel reporting on Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra:

As part of the NBA’s plan to resume the league in a quarantine-like setting is limiting team traveling parties, including players and coaches, to an estimated 35 or so when competition resumes in the absence of fans at the Wide World of Sports complex on the Disney World campus just outside of Orlando.

Already, the league is debating whether players on two-way contracts will be included, which for the Heat could limit the development of guard Gabe Vincent and forward Kyle Alexander. Beyond that, there figure to be difficult decisions with support staff.

“The only thing I’ll say about that is I don’t want to term anything ‘essential’ or ‘non-essential’ staff,” Spoelstra said, limited in his allowable comments, with the NBA’s plan yet to be finalized. “That’s not fair to any of our staff members. These are extreme circumstances. We will plan and act accordingly when we get to that point.” …

With the NBA projecting the season’s resumption will run from July 31 to a potential Oct. 12 Game 7 of the NBA Finals, it could leave the team separated from Heat president Pat Riley for months.

At 75, Riley stands in a high-risk category of contracting COVID-19.

This sort of thing will be a heavy discussion topic in the coming weeks. Better safe than sorry, is a good rule of thumb.

After such details are worked out, and decisions are finalized, and the focus becomes actual basketball games again, it’ll be a very good time.

Remainder of 2019-20 G League season is canceled

NBA G League President Shareef Abdur-Rahim today announced that the remainder of the 2019-20 NBA G League season, which was suspended March 12, has been canceled. The NBA G League’s regular season was scheduled to conclude on March 28.

“While canceling the remainder of our season weighs heavily on us, we recognize that it is the most appropriate action to take for our league,” said Abdur-Rahim. “I extend my sincere gratitude to NBA G League players and coaches for giving their all to their teams and fans this season. And to our fans, I thank you and look forward to resuming play for the 2020-21 season.”

In the coming weeks, the NBA G League will announce end-of-season award winners, including the Most Valuable Player, Dennis Johnson Coach of the Year and Rookie of the Year.