It will be a different setting once the NBA resumes the season not only in terms of location. All teams will be stationed at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex and Disney World Resort and will not have a home-court advantage when the playoffs come, which is one of the big reasons for teams to aim for higher seeds.
According to Dave McMenamin of ESPN, the teams are considering various ideas how to replace the home-court advantage with other advantages over the lower seeded teams. At this point, there have been no formal proposals and it will be a big task to have such rule changes approved. It would take 2/3 of board of governors votes in addition to agreement from the National Basketball Players Association.
In any case, these are the ideas that are being considered, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN:
- The higher-seeded team being awarded the first possession of the second, third and fourth quarters, following the traditional jump ball to begin the game
- The higher-seeded team being allowed to designate one player to be able to be whistled for seven fouls instead of six before fouling out
- The higher-seeded team receiving an extra coach’s challenge
- The higher-seeded teams being able to transport their actual hardwood home court from their home arenas to Orlando to try to preserve the feel of their home playing experience
- An off-court feature in which playoff teams, in order of seeding 1-16, receive first choice on picking which hotel they will stay at in the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex and Disney World Resort. ESPN is owned by the Walt Disney Co.
