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The NBA had confirmed that the league and the NBA Player’s Association are in “exploratory conversations” with the Walt Disney Company regarding resuming the 2019-20 season interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The league has been on hiatus since March. According to a tweet from NBA Chief Communications Officer Mike Bass, the season would start in late July.
Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex in Florida is seen as a potential “single site for an NBA campus for games, practices, and housing”.
The following is a statement from NBA Chief Communications Officer Mike Bass: pic.twitter.com/8gfK5iVXs8
— NBA (@NBA) May 23, 2020
Plans and negotiations have been rumored for months, but this is the first official communication regarding time and place for resuming the season.
Earlier in the month, Republican Governor Ron DeSantis declared that Florida would welcome all professional sports to the state. According to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, Orange and Osceola counties (where the Disney World properties are) have combined for 2,388 confirmed cases at the time of this writing.
We explored the issues with, and reasons for, resumption in this post yesterday.
Update: Keith Smith of YahooSports and CelticsBlog indicates that Disney is up for it.
Final item from a Walt Disney World source: "There are still finer details to be worked out, as this is a very complicated venture. But we believe it will get done. As far as timing goes, within reason, that will be determined by the NBA. We'll be ready when they need us to be."
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) May 23, 2020