NBA players resuming their coronavirus-shortened season at Walt Disney World will find a state-of-the-art professional sports facility, a sprawling hotel complex to call home and maybe even a chance to ride a roller coaster once the teams step inside their basketball bubble.
The NBA’s Board of Governors has approved restarting the league season in late July at Disney World in Florida, according to the Associated Press.
The NBA will stage the remainder of its season with a 22-team format at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex at Disney World. Teams will play a total 88 regular season games — 8 per team — as well as a few potential play-in games before beginning the postseason, according to the New York Times.
Games are expected to start July 31 with the playoffs running until mid-October. Players would report to the Orlando area in early July after training camps at their home facilities.
NBA teams would play several games daily in three arenas at the 220-acre ESPN Wide World of Sports complex, according to the New York Times.
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The idea for playing the remainder of the season at Disney World was sparked by Yahoo Sports reporter Keith Smith in a column he wrote in mid-April. According to Smith, a former Disney World cast member, Disney’s sprawling theme park resort offered three key elements the NBA needed to finish out the season: Extensive basketball facilities, abundant housing and the ability to create a bubble campus for the league.
The ESPN Wide World of Sports complex offers more than a dozen basketball courts with broadcast-ready facilities, according to Yahoo Sports.
The HP Field House hosts televised college basketball tournaments each year. The Visa Center can house up to six full-sized basketball courts and can be reconfigured in a stadium-style setup with one court. The Arena, primarily used for national cheer and dance championships, can be configured for six basketball courts ideal for NBA practice sessions.
Under the NBA bubble campus plan, games would be closed to the public with only teams, broadcast crews and essential personnel allowed in the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex.
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So how will NBA players spend the other 20-plus hours of their day in their new Disney bubble once they are done playing basketball games at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex?
Disney and the NBA have agreed to use the Coronado Springs Resort as the primary housing area during the Disney World-based season, according to Yahoo Sports.
The Coronado Springs Resort is less than 4 miles from the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex and approximately 10 minutes away by bus or car.
The newly re-imagined Coronado Springs Resort offers more than 1,900 rooms. The 545-room Gran Destino Tower was added to the Disney resort in 2019. The resort boasts approximately 100,000-square-feet of convention center space.
The hotel’s grand, two-story lobby is filled with Moorish hanging lanterns and Spanish tile-inspired decorative bronze screens that accentuate the hotel’s blend of Spanish, Mexican and Southwest American cultural themes.
Most of the rooms at the moderately priced Disney resort are fairly standard hotel fare. Waterfront rooms with a view of the 22-acre Lago Dorado are more desirable. The Coronado Springs Resort offers executive and one-bedroom suites for the marquee players on each team. The Gran Destino has a presidential suite for the league’s biggest star.
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After a tough game, NBA players can take a dip in the 90- by 120-foot pool built around a 50-foot-tall replica of a Mayan pyramid that features water streaming down the steps. For players looking for a cool plunge during the humid Orlando summer, the pool offers a slide with a jaguar at the top spitting water.
The resort also features Disney World’s largest outdoor hot tub that holds 22 people — enough room for four NBA starting lineups and a sixth-man or two.
In addition to exercise facilities at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex, players can work out between games in the 24-hour hotel gyms at the Coronado Springs Resort and Gran Destino Tower. A mile-long jogging trail encircles the shimmering Lago Dorado.
On-site spa services include Swedish messages and intensive leg and foot treatments. A salon offers haircuts for men as well as beard and mustache trims.
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The best place to eat inside the bubble will be at Toledo — the tapas, steak and seafood restaurant atop the Gran Destino Tower. The fine-dining restaurant offers Spanish-inspired cuisine, wines from Spain and California and views of the theme park fireworks shows (once the nighttime spectaculars resume).
Other dining options at the resort include the Maya Grill (Mexican), Three Bridges Bar & Grill (sandwiches) and El Mercado del Coronado (food court).
The Barcelona Lounge hybrid bakery-bar serves espresso by day and cocktails by night. Players can catch up on all the day’s NBA action at Rix Sports Bar & Grill. The surrealist Dahlia Lounge rooftop bar with its dandelion chandeliers will be the perfect place to chill after a long day.
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If NBA stars need to unwind on the links, the league can block off some tee times at Disney World’s Palm, Magnolia, Lake Buena Vista or Oak Trail golf courses.
A trip to the Disney Springs outdoor shopping mall would almost certainly involve too many potential interactions with the outside world. But renting out a restaurant like the Boathouse or Enzo’s Hideaway for the night wouldn’t be out of the question.
Visiting Disney’s theme parks would likely burst the NBA’s bubble. But an after-hours ride on Space Mountain for a VIP player or two might be possible.
SEE ALSO: Disneyland survey asks: When will passholders feel safe to return?
The Walt Disney World resort plans to fully reopen to the public in mid-July after extended coronavirus closures of its four Florida theme parks. Disney’s Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom theme parks will reopen on July 11 while the Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios parks will reopen on July 15.
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