First Look at NBA Bubble’s Court Revealed

The 2019-20 NBA season is set to restart at the end of the month, and fans just got a look at the courts. ESPN reporter Malika Andrews is in Orlando for the restart, and she took photos of the court located at the Walt Disney World Resort. Some chairs are spaced out with a socially distanced bench. But the one thing that stands out is the words “Black Lives Matter” written on the court.

With fans not being allowed to attended games, the people who are not on the court should be spaced out enough to the point where there’s not a concern about being on top of each other. As for the “Black Lives Matter” written on the court, this was something the NBA talked about doing to help support the movement going on in the country. And when it comes to the players, some of them may have messages on their back of their jerseys instead of their names. According to the Los Angeles Times, some of the approves messages are: “Black Lives Matter,” “I Can’t Breathe,” “Vote,” “Stand Up,” and “Say Their Names.”

“A central goal of our season restart will be to utilize the NBA’s platform to bring attention and sustained action to issues of social injustice, including combating systemic racism, expanding educational and economic opportunities across the Black community, enacting meaningful police and criminal justice reform and promoting greater civic engagement,” the NBA said in a handbook for players. It also stated the league is in “discussions with the Players Association to develop a comprehensive strategy on how the NBA, its teams and players can best address these important social issues.”

The league suspended the season on March 11 when Utah Jazz player Rudy Gobert tested positive for the coronavirus. Twenty-two teams have made their way to Orlando for the restart, where they will finish out the regular season and then move on to the playoffs. The start of the 2020-21 season will likely be on Dec. 1.