Report: NBA, players reach agreement on Orlando

Jun. 24--Call it a bubble, a campus or, more to the NBA's greatest need, an anti-COVID fortress.

None seem to be accurate even now that the league and players association, according to an ESPN report, have reached agreement on a plan to resume the season somewhere on the breakpoint where July turns into August.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski, an "enhanced" insurance plan will be put in place that covers career-ending injuries related to COVID-19 as well as anything related to basketball.

That news has to be at least partially relieving for Jayson Tatum -- that rare player, coming to the end of his rookie contract, who will be eligible for a maximum contract extension starting in the 2020-21 season. The Celtics will almost certainly sign their young star to this kind of deal, a year after extending Jaylen Brown for four years last fall.

But just because an insurance policy is now in place doesn't mean the players are any more protected from the coronavirus, or the troubling news involving Florida.

The state recorded its 100,000th positive case two days ago. Though Gov. Ron DeSantis claims the surge of positive cases is linked to increased testing, Florida has joined the hardest-hit group of states nationally -- New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Illinois, Texas and California.

But unlike the first three in that group, Florida's infection rate is on the rise, and thus not the most welcome sign as the NBA prepares to commit to Orlando for the next three-plus months.

But dialogue within the players association appears to be satisfied with the precautions and nonstop testing being planned by the league. And though Kyrie Irving's point of debate was seriously considered and vetted -- that players' support for Black Lives Matter and the social justice movement should take precedence over the distraction of a return to competition -- players now apparently feel they can continue to speak out from Disney World's protective confines.

Decisions now rest with individual players. Washington forward Davis Bertans, an impending free agent who just had a career season, said earlier this week that he will sit out Orlando. Bertans has good reason to be concerned. The 27-year-old has suffered two ACL injuries in his young career. The Wizards, the only unseeded team in the East, also aren't considered a likely playoff team. Portland's Trevor Ariza, according to ESPN, may also skip Orlando.

It remains to be seen if other players on better teams make similar decisions.

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