It had recently been announced that basketball will be returning to fans at the end of July as schedule games are set to take place once again on July 30th, but a big change had been announced alongside this as it was made clear for player safety that all teams would be brought together at the Wide World of Sports Complex in the Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, leading the the evolution of the term the Orlando bubble – some players were questioned how they feel about this change as players will only be able to leave and re-enter the ‘bubble’ if they’re retested and replies had been a little mixed, although somewhat positive.
There were some other changes announced too – it has been made clear that much like other sports currently taking place that no fans will be in attendance as no tickets are currently for sale, if you’ve been watching any other big sporting event recently you may have noticed how much it changes the dynamic of the sport as a live crowd provides a certain environment, and not having that crowd could throw some players off their game a little. There’s also a change to the number of games being played as only those expected to reach playoffs have been invited to see the season close out, a total of 22 teams – if you’re looking to place a bet on these teams fortunately odds are already available and you can find the participating operators as this page lists them, but it may be important going in to understand that it may not be as easy to predict as teams may be out of practice or the change of dynamic may impact how they play.
If you’re looking forward to the 2021 season, it has been announced that this is expected to begin on December 1st if all goes to plan – given that all players will be isolated for the remainder of this season it’s unlikely we’ll see any disruptions in the short term but given the US is still battling the pandemic it is a possibility that further disruptions may occur to the start of the 2021 season, and it’s still uncertain if certain aspects of the game such as fan attendance will change any time in the near future. For some it had been suggested that no fans will attend games until a vaccine is found, whereas others are suggesting the possibility of implementing a reduced capacity system at least allow some fans in, how feasible that is hasn’t been seen yet however. Regardless of what happens there, however, it is good to know that fans have something to look forward to throughout August as the season will likely look to have been rounded out by September, and then from there it will only be a short break before the new season begins once again – breaking the dry spell seen since the end of March when lockdown and sports cancellations were first put into place.