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    Not normal
    Jan 16, 2021

    By David Bernal

    SACRAMENTO - For a moment, it almost felt normal.

    Sitting in the lower bowl of Sacramento's Golden One Center, looking down at the players gathered at attention for the singing of the national anthem, it's easy to forget that this isn't an ordinary January matchup in the NBA.

    Though the scene is eminently familiar, the circumstances surrounding the Kings' game against the visiting Portland Trailblazers on Wednesday night (Thursday morning, Manila Time) was anything but.

    The cardboard cutout that sat next to me was just one stark reminder.

    Coming only hours after news rocked the NBA that the Houston Rockets had agreed to terms with the Brooklyn Nets on a trade sending James Harden eastward, the NBA notified the Kings, Blazers, and the rest of the league of its decision to implement stricter health protocols in the face of the worsening Covid-19 pandemic.

    Having already been forced to postpone nine games this season — including three yesterday — due to numerous outbreaks of the coronavirus, the league and the players' association not only announced further restrictions on off-court activities for players and staff, but an ambitious new testing plan aimed at identifying positive cases before they can spread.

    Among the regulations is the requirement that players remain at their residence in their home market and do not leave the hotel premises on the road for the next two weeks. Additionally, players are to limit their interactions to those who live in their household. While the league previously instituted guidelines that restricted its athletes from traveling to bars and strip clubs, the new measures are effectively an attempt to create a traveling bubble environment around all 30 teams.

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    To enhance efforts geared towards identifying when the virus might breach that bubble, ESPN reported that the NBA would supplement its existing testing procedures with what is known as a polymerase chain reaction test that can be administered the morning of games and delivered shortly before tip-off. Despite operating on a much longer timeline than the rapid tests the league has thus far employed - which can return results in as little as 15 minutes - the PCR tests are much more accurate.

    While the draconian measure will ideally limit the spread of Covid - which has caused multiple teams to drop below the required eight players needed to commence matchups - some of the regulations will likely be met with pushback from players should they continue over an extended period. Considering the reluctance by the players' association to even think about returning to an environment similar to the one used in Orlando late last season, it wouldn't be a surprise to see the grumbling start sooner rather than later.

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    Though he once joked that he planned on tunneling out of the Orlando compound like the Mexican drug lord "El Chapo," Kings guard Buddy Hield doesn't appear likely to be one of those complaining.

    When asked his thoughts on the protocols following Wednesday's game, Hield was surprisingly deferential in his assessment and vowed to do what was necessary to see a return to normalcy.

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    "We've got to be respectful to the rules," Hield explained. "A lot of us guys are not going to be for the rules, but it's all about player safety and protecting the coaches and everyone surrounding us. We're not going to be happy not making our money [if games are canceled], so we gotta respect the league and whatever they say."

    Indeed, the challenging financial realities the NBA and its teams are facing may have been the most apparent thing on display at the Golden One Center on Thursday. Besides the cardboard cutouts taking the place of fans in the seats - who incidentally crowded just outside the stadium's doors hoping to watch the game on the jumbotron screens - the court's outer ring, which fills typically with bustling crowds eager to spend at numerous concession stands, was empty, replaced by worktables set up for visiting media.

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      Given the incredibly high-profit margins that teams enjoy when it comes to food and drink sales, the sight of multiple reporters working on their laptops instead of fans spending money is one of the most significant visual indicators of the estimated $1.5 billion the league has lost because of the pandemic.

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      Yet, beyond even financial considerations, there's no denying that the "feel" of arenas is vastly different, even if the props are mostly the same. The PA announcer remains, enthusiastically tallying up the Kings' shots even if his audience is miles away in their living rooms rather than mere feet.

      A DJ continues to pump out his tracks, but he seems to be spinning for the 10 players on the court rather than 18,000 in the stands. Even when a loud cheer erupts at the crescendo of the national anthem, as is so often the case, the piped-in noise doesn't entirely give you the goose bumps that the real thing usually delivers.

      While 10 men competing against one another on the court can still be exhilarating, there's no denying that some of the romanticism in watching thousands get swept away in the trhoes of competition is gone. If basketball is an escape, then it's clear that coronavirus has stolen some of that escapism.

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      "It is what it is," Hield told reporters when speaking about the virus.

      And yet, for a moment, Wednesday night, it almost felt normal.

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