The NBA's COVID-19 safety memo still raises concerns throughout the sporting world as players begin ramping up for the season's return in Orlando
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00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:03 We're learning more and more about the NBA's plan
00:10 to return to play, including a 113-page memo that was
00:14 circulated to the Players Association.
00:16 For more on that, I'm joined by our senior writer, Chris
00:19 Mannix.
00:19 Chris, what's your reaction to what we
00:21 know about the NBA's plan here?
00:23 Well, it is a very detailed set of protocols
00:28 for how the league will return and what kind of isolation
00:33 measures, quarantine measures that the league is
00:35 going to take once the players officially report to Orlando.
00:39 Now, there are some kind of goofy things in the memo.
00:42 You've got rules on not playing doubles ping pong.
00:46 You've got basically a snitch line
00:48 that is called the hotline, where players or staffers can
00:53 be reported for breaking said protocols.
00:55 But there are some very serious questions
00:59 located in this report.
01:00 And the most specific one that I keep hearing,
01:02 Robin, is that it's very clear that Disney employees are
01:07 going to be allowed to come and go from that campus.
01:11 And when they return to the campus or bubble,
01:14 they are not going to be tested for coronavirus.
01:16 They will be tested in terms of temperature checks.
01:19 They'll be asked about symptoms.
01:20 But they will not go through the same testing procedures
01:23 that players, coaches, and staffers are going
01:26 to go through while they're there.
01:27 And I've been hearing from different team personnel that
01:29 have expressed concern that this effectively eliminates
01:33 the whole bubble concept.
01:34 If you've got people coming and going
01:36 that are potentially exposed regularly to coronavirus,
01:41 what is the point of having some tested and not the other?
01:43 That's a fair concern for sure, Chris.
01:45 But isn't where the NBA will be safer than where anybody would
01:49 be normally, like going to the grocery, going outside,
01:51 all that sort of stuff?
01:53 Absolutely.
01:54 It's going to be one of the safer places in the country.
01:57 The problem is it's just not the safest it can possibly be.
02:01 And look, we've seen how rapidly coronavirus
02:04 can spread from player to player, staffer to staffer.
02:07 I mean, you saw the Brooklyn Nets with four players testing
02:10 positive just as this pandemic hit.
02:13 These players, NBA players, are very close
02:16 to each other in proximity.
02:17 You have different bodily fluids being shared on the court
02:22 as you bump into each other and go up
02:24 against each other one on one.
02:25 And there is a genuine concern that, look,
02:27 if one player happens to get infected,
02:29 it could wind up infecting three, four, five players.
02:31 And then the integrity of the postseason
02:33 that the NBA has attempted so hard to preserve
02:37 could be completely detonated.
02:38 Because they do have rules in place that say,
02:41 if one player tests positive, that player
02:43 has to be removed for a certain period of time.
02:45 He has to go to an isolation hotel.
02:47 And what happens if that player spreads it to another?
02:49 I mean, this could--
02:50 I mean, look, this could go perfectly
02:52 if the NBA does it right.
02:53 But it also could go downhill very quickly.
02:56 Yeah, we don't know how it's going to work out.
02:58 But they're certainly going to try.
02:59 Chris, appreciate your time.
03:01 You got it.
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