NBA reporters may spend 3.5 months in Walt Disney World ‘bubble’ to cover season when it resumes from coronavirus pause

on Thursday that Josh Robbins, the president of the Professional Basketball Writers Association, sent an email on June 3 saying the NBA will “allow a select group of journalists onto the premises.”
The reporters, however, “will be stuck there the whole time.”

Robbins said negotiations for writers were ongoing and subject to change.

Per the news outlet, the NBA plans to break reporters up into two “tiers” — the smaller of which would stay “in the bubble.”

Once inside the “bubble,” writers would be tested for coronavirus daily, and would be allowed to talk with players and coaches.

“This group will have the most access, but will work under far greater restrictions than we are used to under normal conditions,” Robbins wrote.

If they leave the bubble at any point, journalists wouldn’t be allowed to re-enter.

Food would be provided for reporters while staying inside the bubble, but their “housing expenses would not be covered by the NBA nor their Disney hosts.”

This would make staying inside the bubble “cost-prohibitive for most outlets,” per the email cited by The Daily Beast.

The second tier would consist of reporters who work for media outlets which couldn’t afford such expenses, or for reporters who would not agree to stay stuck inside the bubble for so long.

For the second tier, “‘In person, face-to-face interactions’” with any players, coaches, or team staff would be prohibited altogether.”

On June 4, the NBA’s Board of Governors .

Teams would arrive at Disney around July 7 and play an eight-game slate of games starting on July 31 at the ESPN Wide World Of Sports complex.

All teams will stay, practice, and play at Disney and the NBA Finals — which would have started on Thursday if not for the coronavirus pandemic that caused the NBA to suspend its season on March 11 — will likely stretch into October.