The NBA will end the season at the Disney World Resort in Orlando

After 84 days without the NBA and a series of hypotheses that rebounded between the American media and rumors, it can be said that American basketball is ready to return. A long, very long stop for the times to which the National Basketball Association is accustomed, the sports league par excellence. As anticipated last week, part of the regular season and the rest of the playoffs will resume under one roof, the one that will provide the Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. The predetermined date for the resumption of operations is July 31, therefore the wait will continue for another 56 days. The decision was made official in the past few hours during the Board of Governors where 29 out of 30 NBA owners (the Trail Blazers the only ones opposed) accepted the commissioner Adam Silver's proposals.

The choice to create a bubble in which to make players, staff and professionals take as few risks as possible was a hypothesis that many media have advocated in recent weeks. The Walt Disney Company resort - a brand that also encompasses the whole ESPN world, the NBA's main media partner who receives the beauty of $ 2.5 billion a year from the broadcaster - responds to many of the NBA's requests: large spaces, locations where the coronavirus did not create catastrophic damage, ready-to-use structures. The 110.3 km² that the resort boasts will be more than enough to accommodate the 22 teams invited by the NBA for the new format. As for the structures, however, inside Disneyland there is the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, a true 220-acre paradise for every sports lover.

The complex consists of: Champion Stadium (a 7,500-seat baseball arena), the HP Field House (5,000-seat multipurpose facility), the Visa Center (6,500 m² arena with six university basketball courts, twelve tennis courts) volleyball and, if necessary, two hockey rinks), the Marathon Sports Fields which includes the Baseball Quadraplex (consisting of four professional baseball fields plus a training one complete with a batting tunnel, launch mounds and launch machines) , the Quadraplex Softball (six softball courts); the Tennis Complex (structure from 1,000 to 8,500 places with 10 clay courts), the Cross Country Course, the Track and Field Complex (professional structures dedicated to athletics) and finally The Arena (third indoor multipurpose center with 6 regular basketball courts and as many for volleyball).

As for the accommodation of players and technical staff, there are still no defined and official solutions. The New York Times has identified the best solution in the 443-room Four Seasons which is located within a fenced area, delimited and practically attached to the Disney complex.