The courts the OKC Thunder and opponents will resume the season playing on emphasize exciting new features
Scrimmage games begin at ESPN Wide World of Sports on the Disney campus today. The OKC Thunder will play in their first scrimmage on Friday versus the Boston Celtics. The first game that counts toward the season for the Thunder features the Utah Jazz on August 1st.
With the 22 teams preparing in the Disney bubble life is extremely different due to the pandemic and the courts they’ll play on are reflective of these changes. The association will have three courts all designed precisely the same.
NBA restart court details
Each court will feature ‘Black Lives Matter’ inked at center court and on the sidelines instead of the typical home team insignia. Several other differences stand out that tie into the need for safety.
Other specifics of the courts are three rows of bench seats for players and coaches with each spaced precisely six feet apart. Seating is assigned in each game so unlike typical games, players will sit in the same seat throughout the contest.
There are up to 30 cameras positioned around the arena with all but three robotic to offer compelling coverage and new angles of play. In addition, there are large video screens positioned all around the court. These screens will undoubtedly take players a while to get used to it.
It’s a #WholeNewGame.
— NBA (@NBA) July 21, 2020
Scrimmages begin tomorrow (7/22) through Tuesday (7/28) and will air on NBA League Pass and NBA TV! The NBA Restart begins on July 30 with games all day and night. pic.twitter.com/AiZeCksoSG
The scorer’s table is behind plexiglass as is the booth where the games will be called. As for the broadcast teams of the likes of Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson they’ll be seated in an elevated area of the arena to ensure social distancing from the court and players.
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Notably, the league is still working on ways to have fans more involved via virtual measures although no specifics have been provided on the specifics yet.
As for Wednesday’s scrimmage itinerary, the games begin at 3:00 pm with the Magic playing the Clippers. Three additional games will take place today including the Wizards versus the Nuggets at 3:30, Pelicans versus the Nets at 7:00 and Kings versus the Heat at 8:00 (all p.m. games and all Eastern Standard Time).
As noted above, the Thunder play the Celtics on Friday at 5:00 pm (4:00 pm CT). The eight seeding game schedule for the OKC Thunder can be viewed via this link.
As these details continue to pour in it’s feeling like this NBA season is definitely going to happen. That’s not something that felt possible just a short time ago. Enjoy the games today as Thunder Nation awaits our first look at the team playing an opponent on Friday.