There will be hoops in the National Basketball Association

This is not the usual “We’re going to Disney World.” It’s where the National Basketball Association is heading, and with the announcement that it is back.

That was decided Thursday when the NBA’s Board of Governors has approved the proposed 22-team format, paving the way for the 2019-2020 to resume this summer, not under the daily sun that falls in the Orlando, Fla., area, but inside the ESPN World Wide of Sports Complex near Disney World in Reunion.

Given the large number of teams, the NBA will likely need to play multiple games and practices simultaneously within the single-site location. There will be no fans in attendance and the games will essentially be made-for-television events. The NBA’s close relationship with ESPN, one of its major media partners, and its parent company Disney influenced the choice of locale.

The big news is that the NBA has followed up on its plans to return to the court. Teams will relocate to Orlando in early July, undergoing a second quarantine period before play begins on July 31. Each team will play eight regular season games before the postseason, which will last until October 12 at the latest.

Joining the 16 teams currently locked into playoff spots are the New Orleans Pelicans, the Phoenix Suns, the Portland Trail Blazers, the Sacramento Kings, the San Antonio Spurs, and the Washington Wizards.

The remainder of the lineup has the top eight regular-season teams from the Eastern and Western Conferences. They are, in order in the East, the Milwaukee Bucks, the defending champion Toronto Raptors, the Boston Celtics, the Miami Heat, the Indiana Pacers, the Philadelphia 76ers, the Brooklyn Nets, the Orlando Magic, and including the ninth entry, the Wizards.

The West has 13, the Los Angeles Lakers, the Los Angeles Clippers, the Denver Nuggets, the Utah Jazz, the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Houston Rockets, Dallas Mavericks, and the Memphis Grizzlies complete the eight-team field that automatically made the field, with the Pelicans, Kings, Spurs, Suns and the Trail Blazers the five that were added.

The plan calls for team training camps to start on June 30. One week later, on July 7, teams will travel to Orlando and continue to practice until the regular-season games are underway.

The eight excluded teams are the Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Hornets, the Chicago Bulls, the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Detroit Pistons, the Minnesota Timberwolves, the New York Knicks, and the Golden State Warriors.

The NBA considered a wide variety of options, from a 16-team field that would gave gone straight to the playoffs to an all-inclusive 30-team field. Ultimately, they settled on 22 teams to maximize interest and television revenue while still excluding teams that did not have a meaningful chance to advance to the postseason. For bottom-dwelling teams, the potential reward of playing in meaningless games did not justify the heath and safety risk of potential exposure to the coronavirus.

Due to the threat of the COPID-19 pandemic, the season was shut down on March 11 and included six teams that were outside the playoff picture, five from the Western Conference, and they were added to the picture.

Under the NBA’s plan, the field of 22 will have eight games to shake off the rust and settle seeding battles before the playoffs. In a typical year, excitement wanes at the end of the regular season and builds gradually during the postseason with first-round match-ups often being one-sided. This time there will be new attention given to the stretch run thanks to the possibility of play-in games for the six that were outside the playoff picture.

When the NBA began allowing teams to reopen their practice facilities in May, the league issued detailed guidelines that prevented group activities and encouraged players to maintain social distancing during workouts. On Thursday the league said it was working with infectious-disease specialists, public health experts and government officials to establish a rigorous program to prevent and mitigate the risk related to novel virus, and this included a regular testing protocol and stringent safety practices.

In other words, a player who tests positive is expected to be removed for a period of isolation while games continue. But it’s not yet clear how a wider outbreak among a team or teams, or a death, would impact the league’s thinking.

Although that remains unknown, the vast majority of players surveyed by the NBA Players Association last month expressed a desire to return to the court. The NBA has not yet addressed how it will handle players who feel uncomfortable with the league’s safeguards.

Coronavirus precautions? Well, at least 10 players tested positive for the the pandemic back in March. Some tested positive on the same team or shortly after playing each other. Additionally, numerous coaches are in a high-risk category given their age. Understandably, some players have expressed a desire to bring family members with them to the bubble environment.

In other news, the NBA draft lottery will be held Aug. 25, with the regular draft to be held Oct. 15, and the 2020-21 campaign to begin on Dec. 1. And with the Tokyo Olympics rescheduled for July of 2021, the NBA is hoping to complete the 2020-21 season with enough time to allow players from all countries to compete.

It might all be a bit complicated and cramped, but these are unique circumstances. But the time the season resumes in July, it will have been nearly five months since play originally came to a halt, which is essentially a full off season. Yes, it could be ugly at the beginning, but ultimately, though, this plan allows for an NBA champion to be crowned this season.

Yup, the NBA is going to Disney World to shoot some hoops, and despite all the virus restrictions, it’s good for a nation of basketball buffs to return to.