LOS ANGELES - The NBA Players Association voted Friday to
approve the NBA's 22-team return-to-play plan and to continue with
negotiations toward a resumption of the 2019-20 season.
"The Board of Player Representatives of the National Basketball
Players Association (NBPA) has approved further negotiations with the
NBA on a 22-team return to play scenario to restart the 2019-20 NBA
season," the union said in a statement.
"Various details remain to be negotiated and the acceptance of the
scenario would still require that all parties reach agreement on all
issues relevant to resuming play."
Representatives from nearly all of the 30 NBA teams were on the call,
unanimously voting in favor of the return to action.
NBPA president Chris Paul is a friend of Disney executive chairman
Bob Iger, and the two worked closely with NBA commissioner Adam
Silver to deliver a palatable plan.
The union informed players that the hope is to limit the number of
players inside the "bubble" to about 1,600, with the possibilities
for families to join players after the first round of the playoffs.
According to sources, the plan calls for players to stay on the
campus at Disney (not in theme parks), with daily testing for the
coronavirus expected.
On Thursday, 29 of the league's 30 governors voted in favor of a plan
to bring 22 teams to Orlando for a handful of games starting July 31,
with the possibility of a play-in tournament for the final spot in
each conference's playoffs, before entering a 16-team traditional
postseason.
The league still needs to finalize a deal with Disney to host the
games at the Wide World of Sports complex in Orlando, Florida.