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Associated Press

There’s no bench. The courtside broadcasters will not be courtside. And the stat crew will be doing their work inside what loosely can be described as an oversized hockey penalty box.
The NBA comes back on Wednesday with a very different look.
The league’s marketing motto for the restart of the season at Walt Disney World is “Whole New Game,” and in many respects, that’s very true.
The arenas that will be used for the exhibitions, the seeding games that start on July 30 and then the play-offs that are scheduled for mid-August through mid-October set up much differently than usual – all with safety during a pandemic very much in mind.

Los Angeles Clippers coach Doc Rivers said league officials have been great, “they really have been. They’ve done everything right as far as I’m concerned.
“I mean, when you think that we’re running a village for the first time, the league is doing pretty well in city management.”
Harden returns as NBA tries to recreate home advantage at Disney
The court dimensions, of course, are unchanged. Everything else about an NBA game set-up is new. Seating in the bench areas will be assigned, with folding chairs set up on three rows instead of the customary two and spaced out several feet from one another – instead of players sitting shoulder to shoulder as they have in the past.
And across the centre stripe, the words “Black Lives Matter” are painted onto the surface.
The NBA and the NBA Players’ Association agreed on the wording in June according to sources, and the slogan will stay on the court throughout the play-offs.
 
 
Here is the NBA restart court in Orlando: the spaced out chairs are the socially distanced bench, Black Lives Matter is written on the court. pic.twitter.com/XGJu1w4QLC
 — Malika Andrews (@malika_andrews) July 21, 2020

The NBA will also allow players to swap their last names on the backs of their jerseys for preapproved slogans, one of them being ‘Black Lives Matter’.
The area where the official scorers, timers and statisticians sit is enclosed by Plexiglas, with social distancing in that makeshift room as well. Broadcasters, who are courtside in normal circumstances, will be higher up and several feet further back from the playing surface.
Even the set-up for replay reviews will be different – that monitor is in the corner of the arena, instead of being kept at the scorer’s table and utilised when needed.

League officials hope they thought of every way to keep people apart and promote social distancing.
Some teams have had tours already; Denver centre Nikola Jokic didn’t get to see the arenas yet, but said Nuggets president Tim Connelly gave them good reviews.
“I didn’t see it in person,” Jokic said. “Tim told me it looks really nice. But to be honest, I’ve played in every possible arena. Nice, bad. Cold, hot. Whatever.”
Getting shirty over NBA jersey names is small-minded
The exhibitions that start on Wednesday will be glorified scrimmages, designed to help the teams, the referees and even the game-night workers figure out how everything works. Teams have even collaborated on their game plans, asking one another what they want to work on in these matchups that won’t count for anything.
They won’t even have a game feel: no national anthems will be played, no starter introductions will take place, warm-ups might not even happen like usual and some real-game elements might get tested out to see what works. The first scrimmages for each team will also have 10-minute quarters, as opposed to the usual 12.
“I’ve just got to take it one game at a time, see what it’s like during these scrimmages,” Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard said.
 
 
Tomorrow's (7/22) Scrimmage Schedule Catch up on the FULL Scrimmage Schedule through Tuesday (7/28): https://t.co/63ZY2ifp6a pic.twitter.com/ncy8FIuYZO
 — NBA (@NBA) July 22, 2020

Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said he reached out to Utah’s Quin Snyder and Sacramento’s Luke Walton on how they wanted to make things work in their upcoming scrimmages, and other coaches have had similar conversations.
The Clippers play Orlando on Wednesday. Rivers said he knows exactly what Magic coach Steve Clifford will do in that scrimmage, and Orlando knows the Clippers’ plans as well.
“We’re looking at this as an opportunity to get better for both teams,” Rivers said. “So, coaches are absolutely sharing things. We’re asking them in this quarter can you do this, on-side, out of bounds, can you do this defence, then what do you want me to do? I think it’s been great in that way.”



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NBA (National Basketball Association)

NBA return in Orlando features court with ‘Black Lives Matter’ logo and no benches

The NBA is about to return, with ‘Black Lives Matter’ painted across the court. Photo: AP

Los Angeles Lakers' LeBron James (R) and LA Clippers' Kawhi Leonard in action during the American NBA basketball match between LA Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers at the Staples Center.

FILE - In this Saturday, March 7, 2020, file photo, Houston Rockets guard James Harden passes against the Charlotte Hornets during the second half of an NBA basketball game in Charlotte, N.C. Harden practiced with his teammates for the first time this summer, Thursday, July 16, 2020, after arriving later than most of the Rockets for the season restart at Walt Disney World. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond, File)

NBA-China crisis reaches jersey names ahead of league restart

A fan wears a LeBron James jersey with an NBA logo covered by a Chinese national flag sticker during their preseason game in Shanghai in October, 2019. Photo: Reuters

James Harden returns with full beard as NBA tries to recreate home advantage for teams at Disney World campus

Houston Rockets’ James Harden makes a pass against the Charlotte Hornets during an NBA game. Harden has just arrived in practice for the first time this summer. Photo: AP

SACRAMENTO, CA - NOVEMBER 29: Head coach Rick Carlisle of the Dallas Mavericks looks on against the Sacramento Kings during an NBA game on November 29, 2008 at ARCO Arena in Sacramento, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images/AFP == FOR NEWSPAPERS, INTERNET, TELCOS & TELEVISION USE ONLY ==

NBA’s China crisis lingers as Houston Rockets banned on Tencent and CCTV refusing to show any games

The NBA’s China crisis is going to start back up again when the season resumes on July 30. Photo: Reuters

Oct 22, 2019; Los Angeles, CA, USA; A fan wears a "Fight for Freedom. Stand with Hong Kong" shirt and holds a United States flag before the NBA game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the LA Clippers at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver speaks to the media during a news conference at Spectrum Center in Charlotte, N.C., on Saturday, Feb. 16, 2019. (David T. Foster III/Charlotte Observer/TNS)

Fans hold signs about Hong Kong during the second half of an NBA basketball game between the Houston Rockets and the Milwaukee Bucks, Thursday, Oct. 24, 2019, in Houston. (AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith)

NBA-China crisis: Adam Silver hopes for ‘mutual respect’ amid questions from US senator

A worker removes a promotional banner for the NBA China Games in Shanghai in October, 2019. The preseason game between the Brooklyn Nets and the Los Angeles Lakers was played amid controversy. Photo: AFP

NBA return: coronavirus and Black Lives Matter loom large for player buy-in

Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James reacts during a match against the Portland Trail Blazers in January. Photo: EPA

Sport

Basketball

The league is branding the restart as a ‘Whole New Game’ which will kick off on July 30 with safety very much in mind
The seeding games start on July 30 and then the play-offs are scheduled for mid-August through mid-October


The league is branding the restart as a ‘Whole New Game’ which will kick off on July 30 with safety very much in mind.


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