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Silver: Significant spread in bubble 'may lead us to stopping'

Stacy Revere / Getty Images Sport / Getty

NBA commissioner Adam Silver is concerned about the COVID-19 cases in Florida, and he addressed the matter in a wide-ranging conference call on Friday that also featured players' association president Chris Paul and executive director Michele Roberts.

Several issues related to the league's tentative plan to continue its 2019-20 season at Walt Disney World in July were discussed, with the increasing cases chief among the concerns.

"The level of concern has increased, not just because of the increased levels in Florida, but throughout the country," Silver said, according to The New York Times' Marc Stein.

In Orange County, which encompasses Disney World's location near Orlando, at least 10% of COVID-19 tests have come back positive in each of the past 10 days. That's more than double the rate from June 6-15, according to the Associated Press' Tim Reynolds.

Earlier on Friday, the NBA announced that 16 of 302 players who underwent testing for the coronavirus on Tuesday tested positive. The players must self-isolate until a physician clears them.

On the call, Silver also said a "significant spread" of COVID-19 within the league's campus environment "may lead to us stopping" the season, according to ESPN's Malika Andrews.

He confirmed there would be daily virus testing "at least to start" on the premises, according to ESPN's Andrew Lopez.

“We can’t sit on the sidelines indefinitely," Silver added, according to ESPN's Ramona Shelburne. "We must adapt ... We believe it will be safer on our campus than off it.

"But this is not business as usual.”

Additionally, Silver described how the league intends to secure its campus at a time when NBA players are involved in social-justice reform discourse, with tensions still high.

Contrary to recent reports, the commissioner said the league will use local, state, and federal law-enforcement agencies for security, saying "there will not be a presence of (outside) law enforcement on our campus," according to The Athletic's David Aldridge. Instead, the site's security detail will be comprised of Disney World personnel.

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