The NBA has made the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex near Orlando, Florida, its temporary home to finish the season, but Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis is approaching the games as if they were part of an extended road trip.
“Just kind of treat it as an away-game routine,” Davis said on a video conference call with reporters Tuesday when asked what his game-day ritual will be like in Orlando. “Just kind of go into that format.”
It was a format that suited the Lakers well prior to the hiatus that started in March because of the coronavirus pandemic. L.A.’s 26-6 road record was not only tops in the league, but a historically great showing. The Lakers’ .813 win percentage on the road was the second best in franchise history and third best in league history, according to data collected by ESPN Stats & Information, trailing only the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors (.829) and the 1971-72 Lakers (.816).
Kyle Kuzma, whom Lakers coach Frank Vogel this week called “one of our best players since this restart,” was L.A.’s standout performer on the road this season. He averaged 2.8 more points on the road compared to at home, which was the eighth-largest difference in the league among players to suit up for at least 40 games this season. JaVale McGee was also impressive, upping his accuracy on field goal attempts by 12.5% during away games, good for third-best in the league for players with at least 250 shot attempts.
But the road atmosphere some 2,500 miles away from Southern California won’t feel like the hostile arenas the Lakers became accustomed to conquering this season.
The three courts on the property are The Arena at ESPN Wide World of Sports, HP Field House and VISA Athletic Center, and all three will have a similar aesthetic: a big NBA logo where the ball is tipped off, “Black Lives Matter” in block lettering near the sideline, a Plexiglas-enclosed broadcast booth near center court, multitiered team benches allowing for social distancing and an array of video screens surrounding the action where all sorts of images can be displayed.
And the venues will have something else in common: no fans in the stands.
“It’s going to be different with no crowd,” Lakers guard Danny Green said Tuesday. “It’s probably going to be less pressure. It’s going to be interesting to see how guys operate — like if the numbers go up or go down depending on whether they have fans in the building or not. So we’ll see how that goes.”
It’s not that Orlando is foreign territory for the Lakers. In his 17 seasons in the league, LeBron James has gone 17-16 in games in Orlando, including the playoffs. Vogel coached the Orlando Magic before he stalked the sidelines at Staples Center. Dwight Howard was the Magic’s superstar when the team opened its nearby arena in 2010.
But that familiarity with Amway Center will have little relevance when it comes to playing games in the bubble.
“It will be like pickup games at L.A. Fitness which I think people are interested to see because there’s going to be a lot of trash talking,” Green said. “There’s going to be a lot of cussing out. Hopefully less technicals, even though the ref is going to hear a lot more.
“But, like I said, it’s going to be interesting to see how the numbers go considering the fact that there’s no home-court advantage, no fans or nobody watching over top of you and the lights aren’t quite as bright as they normally would be on a stage that we can only play on in the playoffs.”