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The NBA Bubble has been a smashing success in terms of limiting the number of COVID-19 infections, but nobody is quite sure what to do with the New York Knicks and the seven other teams who didn’t qualify. First, they talked about forming a separate bubble in Chicago, then they discussed letting each team set up its own training camp, and finally they considered scrapping the whole thing.
But now a new idea has emerged, per The Athletic’s Sam Amick (subscription required): Bring the eight loser squads into the Orlando bubble at a later date. Six teams are about to exit the bubble when they fail to qualify for the playoffs, which would free up some space for the “Delete Eight,” as they’re being called, to train, once they’ve passed through quarantine.
This idea likely won’t sit well with the Knicks, who have been adamant from the start that they prefer to train separately at their Tarrytown training facility. But the NBA Players Association prefers everyone training together at a location they can control. As we watch daily updates of MLB squads outside of a bubble environment fighting off COVID outbreaks within their ranks, it’s hard to blame the NBAPA. The bubbles are working.
Also, it would be cool for the young Knicks to train at Disney during playoff time, maybe catch a game or two and check out the playoff atmosphere...albeit the surreal 2020 version.
We’ll keep you updated with the training camp story as it continues to twist and turn.