Back to the bubble: G League season will be played at Disney

G League will crown its 2021 champion in a bubble, just as NBA did last season.

Plans were anunced Friday for G League season, which will be condensed and played at Walt Disney World resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Teams have been given a preliminary plan calling for games to begin around Feb. 8, but schedule details have been set.

re will be 18 teams in league, including G League Ignite — new team formed this season to serve primarily as a one-year development program for elite NBA draft prospects. Eventually, eight teams will vance to a single-elimination playoff.

Former NBA players who have signed with G League in recent weeks include 2008 . 2 overall draft pick Michael Beasley, Lance Stephenson, Jeremy Lin and Nik Stauskas. All did so with plans of playing in Disney bubble.

“We worked closely with our teams, Basketball Players Union, and public health experts to develop a structure that allows our teams to gar at a single site and safely play,” NBA G League President Shareef Abdur-Rahim said. “We are thrilled to get back to basketball and to fulfill our mission as a critical resource for NBA in developing players, coaches, referees, athletic trainers and front-office staff.”

season is expected to last for about a month.

G League did t crown a champion last season. It suspended play March 12, one day after NBA originally did, in response to coronavirus pandemic and ultimately cancelled remainder of its season in early June.

NBA teams that are t sending affiliates to G League bubble will still be permitted to assign roster players and transfer two-way contract signees to go play at Disney. It will be a similar operational plan to what NBA used at Disney from July until October — including daily testing, strict protocols and or mechanisms designed for safety. Those rules will also be in place for coaches, team staff and league staff that goes to Disney.

17 NBA clubs sending affiliates to bubble are Los Angeles Clippers, San Antonio, Cleveland, Philelphia, New Orleans, Indiana, Charlotte, Minnesota, Orlando, Brooklyn, Memphis, Oklahoma City, Toronto, Houston, Utah, Golden State and New York.

Some opted out, including Los Angeles Lakers' affiliate.

“While we appreciate G League’s efforts in putting toger this model to accommodate all member teams, we have determined this is best course of action for Lakers organization," South Bay Lakers said in a statement Friday. “We look forward to our eventual return to G League basketball. In meantime, we will continue to assign opportunities to our staff as y become available."

Capitanes — a Mexico City-based team from top Mexican pro league — was scheduled to join league this season as its 29th team, start of what was planned as a five-year experiment that would have me club first G League team from outside U.S. and Cana. That plan is w apparently delayed, as Capitanes will t be sending a team to bubble this season.

Im credits: AP