It’s a small world after all for Pelicans in Disney World

The New Orleans Pelicans arrived in Orlando on Wednesday.

They’ll be hanging out at the Walt Disney World Resort with 21 other NBA teams.

It’s a small world after all.

And a brave new world amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The #Pelicans have arrived in Orlando! 🏀#WontBowDown | #WholeNewGame pic.twitter.com/d1AMIDeujb

— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) July 8, 2020

The Pelicans will hold their first practice Friday afternoon. They’re supposed to start scrimmaging against other teams in two weeks. On July 30, they’re scheduled to begin an eight-game schedule to determine playoff positioning.

That’s the plan. No one knows what if anything will go according to plan.

“I’m not very confident,” forward Brandon Ingram said.

Like most everything these days it will be taken one day at a time.

“I can’t really tell you whether it’s going to work or not,” guard Lonzo Ball said. “Obviously nothing is going to be perfect. This is something that’s never been done before. There’s still a lot of question marks.”

Some questions have been answered. Assistant head coach Jeff Bzdelik, who at age 67 would be at high risk if he were to contract COVID-19, isn’t going to Orlando. Head coach Alvin Gentry, 65, did.

“We want those guys (in Orlando) obviously,” guard Josh Hart said, “but the most important thing is their health.”

Three unidentified players who tested positive for COVID-19 won’t be going until they test negative for the virus.

“I think the NBA has done a great job of putting an amazing protocol in place to make sure that guys who have had or have it are kind of contained and not put back in the organization until they’re not contagious, until that virus gets out of them,” Hart said. “We want to make sure that we’re there for those guys, obviously not physically but in spirit and hope the best for them and pray for them.”

No Pelicans players have chosen not to participate.

“I just want to play basketball at the end of the day,” Ingram said. “I’ve got to be there. It wasn’t a question.”

The season was suspended March 11. Ingram said he thinks teams will be able to regain their offensive from more easily than their defensive form.

“I think we all know how to get the ball in the basket and make the right play,” New Orleans’ leading scorer said. “I think it’s the defensive end we have to pay attention to, put urgency on, and pay attention to every detail in every minute of the game.”

Similarly, Hart said he expects the mental adjustment to be more challenging than the physical adjustment.

“I think it’s probably ten percent physical, ninety percent mental,” he said.

Hart said he’s “definitely a little bit concerned about” the threat of injury with the long layoff and the quick ramp-up.

“But at the end of the day,” Hart added, “I’m just going to go out there and play basketball the way I normally play and I’ll put everything in God’s hands.”

The Pelicans had two weeks of workouts at the team’s Metairie training facility before heading to Orlando.

“It’s five weeks, six weeks in Orlando, potentially eight, potentially 10, potentially 12,” guard JJ Redick said. “I mean, you start adding it up, and you’re looking at two-three months with no contact with your kids and your wife. That’s a very emotionally daunting thought, is to just be away from them for that long.”

Redick added, “I do believe it is the right thing to go and play,” though he listed a series of conditions that make this time unique for basketball and life.

“There is absolutely no comfort level,” Redick said. “We’re not with our families. We’re not at our homes. We’re isolated in a bubble in the middle of a hot spot in the middle of Florida.”

Hart said players are “going to have to be OK with some type of risk” in the short term “unless you stay in the house every single day for the next year or so.”

If the NBA is able to complete the season as it has planned it will crown a champion in October, when it would normally be starting a new season.

“Whoever comes out on top this year and wins the Finals, I think they will have an asterisk next to that championship,” Hart said. “That asterisk is probably winning the hardest Finals there probably ever was and maybe ever will be.”

Zion Williamson’s rookie season began with him sidelined by knee surgery and he was just hitting his stride when the shutdown came.

“I’m very fortunate that the NBA was able to (find a way to finish the season),” Williamson said. “I trust the NBA, and the bubble. We’re going to be in a safe environment, we’re taking advice from certain situations. It’s crazy. It’s a lot to process, but I am excited.”