After four months of waiting and planning, the NBA bubble is ready to be tested.
The first six teams - the Brooklyn Nets, Denver Nuggets, Orlando Magic, Phoenix Suns, Utah Jazz and Washington Wizards - are scheduled to arrive Tuesday at the Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Florida. Another eight teams arrive Wednesday, the last eight arrive Thursday, and with that training camps will be on the cusp of beginning.
If the plan works, all teams will be at Disney for at least 5 1/2 weeks, and some teams will be there for more than three months. Not everyone in the league, though, has an abundance of optimism that the experiment - involving daily testing, separation from friends and family for weeks if not months, and strict regulations regarding just about everything imaginable while inside the bubble - will be enough to complete the season.
"I'm not very confident," New Orleans Pelicans guard Brandon Ingram said. "But they've got us going so we'll see."
The process for arrivals will be streamlined: Players and team staff will be immediately taken to the testing room at their hotel after clearing security when arriving on the premises. They'll receive a short briefing on the testing program and other matters, receive what will serve as their room key, then go through initial testing for both the coronavirus and the presence of antibodies. Virus testing will continue daily; the antibody testing is intended to be a one-time event in Florida.
In their rooms, a welcome kit including a thermometer, pulse oximeter and two optional items - a physical distancing sensor and an Oura Ring that tracks sleep and activity - will be awaiting players and staff, as will some personal protective equipment such as wipes to clean the exterior of their luggage.
"I think we're on the right path, we're on the right plan," Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey said. "But I think every day there's new information, so I think if anyone's certain about anything right now, I think they're making a mistake. I think we all have to intelligently continue to understand the risks, manage the risks versus the potential outcomes, and go from there."
For some teams, the getaway comes not long after the reality of the virus struck yet again. The Miami Heat closed their facility late last week after positive test results, the Milwaukee Bucks and Sacramento Kings followed over the weekend after the same circumstance, and now seven of the 22 Disney-bound teams have had to shutter their practice gyms.
All this, of course, comes with coronavirus numbers in Florida still rising and the percentage of positive test results simply overwhelming what the standards were a few weeks ago.
"As long as we try to (abide) by the rules, I think that's going to help get us through the season," Pelicans guard Lonzo Ball said. "I can't really tell you whether it's going to work or not."
And not every team is having its entire travel party arrive at once. Phoenix general manager James Jones said some of his club's players will be arriving separately, adding that some decisions have yet to be made.
"The initial adjustment will be tough," Jones said. "The first five or six days - you're talking about quarantine, trying to get acclimated to new surroundings, trying to figure out your flow and rhythm. But once the games start, they're every other day, I think the players will be fine. You play a game on Monday, you're tired and recover on Tuesday, then you're right back at it on Wednesday."
And there are some teams, including Washington, that are still apparently figuring out who will go. Wizards coach Scott Brooks said Monday that the team is still waiting for a final decision on guard Bradley Beal, who has indicated he is weighing whether participating in the restart would be his best move.
"No final decision," Brooks said. "We're all still day by day, and he's looking great. We hope that everybody goes down there."
The scheduled Wednesday arrivals are the Boston Celtics, Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Clippers, Memphis Grizzlies, Miami Heat, New Orleans Pelicans, Oklahoma City Thunder and Sacramento Kings. On Thursday, the Houston Rockets, Indiana Pacers, Los Angeles Lakers, Milwaukee Bucks, Philadelphia 76ers, Portland Trail Blazers, San Antonio Spurs and Toronto Raptors make their way into the bubble.
Spurs forward Rudy Gay has a son who happens to be a big Disney fan and wanted to know why the family didn't take its traditional vacation there this year. Gay hasn't had the heart yet to tell him that he's headed to the resort for several weeks, and was asked Monday if he has a special souvenir in mind to bring home.
"A healthy father," Gay said. "A corona-free father, hopefully."