The Boston Celtics aren’t long from being able to have family and guests at the Disney restart taking place at the Wide World of Sports complex in Lake Buena Vista, Florida with the first round of the 2020 postseason slated to begin on August 17th.
At the conclusion of the first round, and no sooner than August 31st, family and friends will be able to join players in the central Florida ‘bubble’ that is the NBA campus, so long as those guests are family or verifiable friends who can demonstrate a pre-existing relationship, according to ESPN senior writer Adrian Wojnarowski.
NBA/NBPA guidelines on guests, starting after first-round of playoffs, per sources.
Four guests per player, but can be exceeded for children.
Guests can travel on team charters following testing.
Guests will be allowed to attend games.— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 12, 2020
Players will be able to have up to four guests (that limit may be exceeded for children) they have known previously, the latter restriction included to minimize the potential for distractions, according to the terms agreed upon by the league and the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA).
This excludes people players have business relationships with like chefs, tattoo artists, trainers and agents, and will require seven days of quarantine before being allowed to mingle with others in the NBA campus.
Players will have a ticket per game each available for those friends and family, with up to one additional seat for a child in an effort to minimize risk.
Here's who isn't eligible to come into The Bubble as a guest, per memo: "Any individual the player has not previously met in person or with whom the player has had limited in-person interactions. (For example)… known by the player only through social media or an intermediary."
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 12, 2020
In a similar vein, those guests will not be able to travel to the theme parks, and will be restricted to Disney NBA campus.
While forward Gordon Hayward will be leaving the bubble for the birth of a child some time in September, this plan will allow the rest of his teammates to see loved ones again they haven’t been around since entering the ‘bubble’ roughly a month ago.
And the support one feels from those we keep close is exactly what the Celtics will need as they gear up for the difficult second-round matchups they’ll be facing, assuming they make it out of the first.
