As of Friday, each of the NBA’s 22 teams had relocated to the Orlando bubble, with the final round of quarantines expected to end over the weekend.
For the Thunder, the team was able to hit the practice floor on Friday for the first time in nearly four months, and Andre Roberson made a grand return.
Billy Donovan’s team will now gear up for their first exhibition game in Orlando — it’s nearly two weeks away on July 24. The Thunder will see the Celtics on that day, but until then, they’ll do their best to get reacquainted with one another and get back into game shape.
With the team holding media availability on Friday, we got a firsthand look at the club on their first day back together.
The team arrived in Orlando on Wednesday.
After their mandatory two-day quarantine ended, Chris Paul, Darius Bazley and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander played a rather spirited game of cornhole before the club held its first practice, which appeared to be rather spirited.
The club practiced, with Paul and Gilgeous-Alexander appearing to be in midseason form.
Head coach Billy Donovan confirmed that Andre Roberson was a full participant in practice and noted that he looked pretty good.
The Thunder’s Nick Gallo provided a solid roundup of the team’s practice session and helped those far and away from the bubble feel like they were in the gym with the club.
The countdown to the official resumption of competition continues.
