Inside the NBA Bubble
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Slate Podcasts
4.5 • 6K Ratings
🗓️ 22 July 2020
⏱️ 21 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The NBA has announced an ambitious plan to restart the season more than 4 months after it was abruptly halted due to the coronavirus. 22 teams have entered the COVID-free “bubble” at Disney’s Wide World of Sports in Orlando, Florida — a state with some of the highest cases of coronavirus in the country. As long as players and staff remain in the bubble, they will undergo regular coronavirus tests and face strict campus rules. So what’s life like inside the NBA bubble? And what does this experiment say about who gets access to coronavirus testing and results?
Guest: Ben Golliver covers the NBA for the Washington Post.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | When I called up Ben Goliver this weekend, he was alone, sitting in a hotel room in Florida. |
| 0:11.0 | This room had the standard setup, two beds, and a window that looked out on a little fountain. |
| 0:18.0 | There was only one catch. When was the last time you left your room? So I have not left |
| 0:23.7 | my room since I arrived Sunday one week ago. As we're talking, I'm counting down the minutes. |
| 0:32.1 | I have one hour until they've promised to bring me my credential and to set me free from my room. |
| 0:37.9 | It will be the first time I've kind of had outside contact or been able to go at least |
| 0:42.6 | more than one step outside of my hotel room door in a solid week. |
| 0:47.6 | Ben's a basketball reporter, writes for the Washington Post, hosts a bunch of basketball |
| 0:52.4 | podcasts. This hotel room he's been stuck in. |
| 0:55.8 | It's in the middle of Walt Disney World, |
| 0:57.8 | which is where 22 NBA teams are set to resume their 2020 season next week. |
| 1:03.4 | But before they do that, everyone and anyone who's associated with the league |
| 1:08.3 | has been locked down in a kind of luxury quarantine, |
| 1:12.4 | including Ben. |
| 1:13.5 | My life for the last week has been pacing back and forth, you know, in my hotel room |
| 1:18.3 | trying to get my steps and then, you know, doing a heck of a lot of interviews from people |
| 1:21.8 | all around the world who are like, why are you so crazy? |
| 1:24.7 | Why have you decided to do this with your life? |
| 1:27.1 | What's like the number |
| 1:27.9 | one question you get? I think the number one question is, how's the food? For Ben, who's vegetarian, |
| 1:34.1 | the answer to this question is not great. So I ordered 64 ounces of peanut butter off Amazon, |
| 1:40.9 | like within 24 hours of getting here. Thankfully, that arrived. |
... |
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