VIDEO - Inside 1st Practice In NBA Bubble: 'A Unique Event In History'
Dallas Mavericks coached opened his first Zoom video press conference with the DFW media on Friday by reciting ... and then proclaiming his team's excitement because "this could go down as one of the unique events in sports history. ... I want to breathe in the uniqueness of this experience.
"We're gonna have a great attitude about it ... It's great to be back in the gym. Everybody misses the smell of the gym.''
Carlisle said his entire roster was healthy and present for the evening workout, which came on the first day the club's 35-person traveling party was free from quarantine. The Mavs will work again on Saturday at 2 p.m. ET as part of this COVID-19-time re-boot at Disney World in Orlando. ... as they continue to attempt to make adjustments to basketball in a hotel ballroom.
Seth Curry and Maxi Kleber both noted that the lighting in the ballroom might've been a bit sub-standard.
"Everybody was hyped; the practice has a good intensity,'' Kleber said. "(But) if you look at the set-up, it's kind of weird to be in a ballroom."
Added Curry: "You can tell guys had a little extra boost, a little extra energy."
The 40-27 Mavs have a goal of moving up in the standings during the eight-game "seeding'' completion of the regular season before they advance to the NBA Playoffs.
They are trying to make Orlando their "home''; the Mavs used the Dallas Cowboys' moving company to ship their gear from DFW to Florida, Carlisle loaded gym equipment into his room and Curry packed his golf clubs and his video games and ordered off Amazon a humidifier for his room.
The bonding experience here promises to be a positive one.
"I think especially mentally here, (seclusion) is going to be a challenge,'' Kleber said. "We have to get used to each other, and the great thing about us is we get along well, so I think we're going to have fun."
Kleber joked about the players working together on fun video stuff (the music video above was a Dwight Powell production) but issued a frank admission about this "unique event in sports history.
"Nothing,'' Kleber conceded, "really feels normal right now.''
