NBA Rumors: 2020 Season Return at Disney Could Use 2K Video Game Sounds
For weeks, NBA rumors were swirling that there were discussions to resume the season in either Las Vegas or Orlando. As of this past week, that plan became official as it was announced the season would return at Walt Disney World Resort. A total of 22 teams will participate with possible pre-season, regular season, play-in tournament, and playoffs. In addition, it appears that the NBA 2K video game could play a part in the games.
NBA season resuming in July at Disney World
The NBA rumors became fact when it was learned over the past week that 22 teams will head to Orlando in July to resume the season. They’ll be staying at ESPN’s Walt Disney World Resort where there are arenas and living facilities for all of the individuals involved. That will also allow for close monitoring and testing of players, officials, and team personnel amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The 22 teams that will participate include the top eight teams from the Eastern Conference and Western Conference. In addition, the Washington Wizards will join the East, as they are within reach of the No. 8 seed.
There will be an additional five teams for the West. They are the New Orleans Pelicans, Sacramento Kings, Portland Trail Blazers, San Antonio Spurs, and Phoenix Suns. All are within reach of the eighth spot in the conference.
There will be eight regular season games from the schedule played in Orlando for all of the teams going. That will help determine seeding for the playoffs. It will also help decide the final seeds in the East and West.
If a team that finishes ninth is in within four games of the No. 8 spot, that will bring about a play-in for the eighth seed. The other teams that don’t qualify will all be done for the season and not involved in the postseason.
It’s all expected to get going within the last week of June with training camps, and then in July teams will get to Orlando for more training. Games will begin by July 31, with the NBA Finals’ ending by October 12 at the latest.
Right now, cover star Anthony Davis and the Los Angeles Lakers remain the favorites to win the NBA championship. However, the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Clippers are right behind them on the championship odds.
NBA rumors include preseason games and 2K sounds
Now that both the Board of Governors and NBA Players Association have voted in favor of the season restart in Orlando, more details have started coming forth. On Friday, The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported that there will be a maximum capacity of 1,600 people in Orlando and maybe two to three preseason games.
He also indicated they’ll be conducting coronavirus tests on a daily basis. Any player who tests positive go into quarantine for a minimum of seven days. However, the rest of the teams will continue playing should that happen.
Another interesting tidbit that popped up is the potential use of NBA 2K video game. Since there won’t be any fans in the arenas that they’ll play the NBA games in, it could be quiet except for player noise. However, there’s a possible plan to use NBA 2K crowd noise. This could provide a closer simulation of the atmosphere players are usually part of.
“There could be crowd noise via NBA 2K video game sounds, but the NBA and NBPA is still discussing creative opportunities,” Charania noted in his report.
When the NBA went on hiatus back in mid-March due to Rudy Gobert’s testing positive for coronavirus, it led to most other sports shutting down, at least temporarily. However, video games quickly became something to fill that void left by sports. Not only was there the NBA 2K Players Tournament that Devin Booker won, but also daily simulations of games using 2K for sports betting.
2K20 even provided an NBA Finals simulation with LeBron, AD, and the Lakers defeating the Greek Freak and the Bucks for the chip. Now it appears that the NBA 2K video game could once again play an important part in sports, this time merging with the real thing in Orlando.
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