What the NBA’s December start plans means everything speeds up for the Orlando Magic
Get ready for travel
The other thing about this proposal is a note that came from Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
The world — and especially the United States — is still dealing with a raging pandemic. The biggest concern remains to stop any penetration of the virus into NBA circles. And the league saw how MLB struggled in its early season with the virus while trying to have teams travel to home cities. The NFL is still seemingly struggling to stop any further outbreaks.
The NBA is going to try to limit travel it seems by having teams try to play all their road games to certain areas and all at once. So, for instance, if the Orlando Magic would travel to New York and play all their road games against the New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets in one trip (and possibly even the Philadelphia 76ers in the same trip).
For a team like the Orlando Magic — and other teams like the Miami Heat and Portland Trail Blazers especially — this could mean especially long road trips to knock out clusters of teams. Of course, that should also mean some pretty long homestands.
The Magic’s schedule, in other words, is going to resemble the Orlando Solar Bears’ schedule in some ways. Homestands that last multiple weeks along with similarly long road trips to areas like the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest.
Orlando typically is among the teams that travel the most in the league. That is just a function of geography. It is a reality of the schedule the Magic get every year. They face some difficult road trips throughout the season — the team complained about how difficult its December and January was this season with even Clifford openly and publicly saying he had never faced a schedule so demanding.
But this year could see some odd trips for the team. It could see some long road trips. And just what Orlando can accomplish will likely depend on how they manage these road trips. Or when these road trips pop up in the schedule.
This is a reality every team will have to deal with to some extent. But it is one the Magic will be keenly aware of.