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Clippings: The Clippers want to bring their families to Florida

After all, what fun is Disney World without kids?

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Los Angeles Clippers Introduce Kawhi Leonard & Paul George Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

Back in May, before the procedures for the NBA restart (and most other sports) had been sorted out, Alicia examined how the leagues that were including families in the set-up seemed to be having more success at securing player buy-in. That finding is fairly obvious — people like being around their loved ones, and family can provide a source of comfort and stability in an otherwise unnatural situation, like a three-month-long quarantine bubble.

Ultimately the NBA settled on allowing family members onto the campus site after the first round of the playoffs to limit the total number of occupants. The Clippers, however, want the league to do better.

Per a report from Sam Amick of The Athletic, the Clippers have been petitioning the league to bring family members to Orlando at the start of the playoffs, which are currently scheduled for August 17. That would be a full two weeks before families arrive in the present format:

Sources say the Clippers have been the most vocal when it comes to pushing for more family and friends to be allowed earlier in the timeline, with their routinely-stated hope (via weekly calls between the NBA and front office executives) that the league will eventually allow at least one family member or friend to join players at the start of the first round.

“They’re fighting for that,” a rival GM said.

The Clippers are a veteran team, and at least ten of the players are married or have children. It only makes sense that they would bring people with them to Florida when they plan to stay there through October.

It’s interesting that the women’s sports leagues (the NWSL and the WNBA) made children a priority in their season plans. Kids will be in the bubble for the entirety of the NWSL Challenge Cup and the 22-game WNBA season. Trying to suggest otherwise was a non-starter for both leagues. However, the men of the NBA are expected to spend at least seven weeks without their children and their spouses/significant others, when a normal season would have them on the road for maybe 12-14 consecutive days at most. Even the team that has the biggest problem with this is only pushing to shave two weeks off of that timeline.

It’s clear that the NBA is trying to reduce the number of people in the campus environment to ensure safety, but it would make a lot more sense (at least for me) to have families around than the Suns, the Wizards, or the Spurs.

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