For the NBA to have a successful finish to the 2019-20 season, all of the players will have to be committed to remaining in the Orlando “bubble” at Walt Disney World ensure the safety of all invovled.
The league and Players Association recently finalized their return-to-play plan, with all teams flying to Orlando between July 7-9. The Los Angeles Lakers are due to arrive on the final possible day.
A big focus is on health and safety, which should be the case with coronavirus (COVID-19) continuing the see daily record numbers in Florida. The NBA recently announced that 16 players already tested positive in their first round of testing, so it will not be easy to keep everyone safe and coronavirus-free if there isn’t full commitment.
It seems that all of the players are on board with the regulations in place, and because of that, Lakers center JaVale McGee is not concerned as he gets set to head to Orlando, via Dan Woike and Tania Ganguli of the L.A. Times:
“I’m definitely comfortable,” McGee said. “We’ve been away for a while now and we’ve been COVID-free for this long. I definitely think we’ll be OK as long as we take the necessary precautions.”
McGee previously expressed concern about playing in a bubble while being quarantined in Orlando, although much of that stemmed from the notion that players would possibly be asked to only stay in their hotel room when not playing.
If anyone on the Lakers should be concerned about their health, it should be McGee as he has dealt with asthma throughout his life and got a really bad case of pneumonia last season that caused him to miss several games.
Players have until July 1 to opt-out of the season if they choose, with Lakers guard Avery Bradley already doing so due to family concerns.
While the Lakers can’t afford to lose any more key contributors if they want to keep their championship hopes alive, the health of the players always comes first so it is understandable if someone chooses to sit out.
It doesn’t look like McGee will be one of those players though, so he will resume his spot as the team’s starting center when they take the court in Orlando.
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