How Bulls are preparing for fan-less United Center experience originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
In a nod to the Blackhawks’ ice that sits underneath the Bulls’ hardwood, Billy Donovan joked that he’d like to get the heat turned up in the United Center the next time he visits.
But getting used to the temperature isn’t why Donovan chose to practice there Wednesday. Getting used to the atmosphere is.
When the Bulls open their preseason schedule Friday against the Rockets, it will be the first of many home games played without fans.
“It’s going to be unique for everybody,” Donovan said.
Select teams plan to allow a small number of fans at the start of this unprecedented NBA season, although current state and city mitigation efforts aimed at slowing COVID-19 prohibit the Bulls from doing so.
“The biggest thing for all of us is to take the approach that you can view things as a hassle or inconvenience or you can be flexible and say this is the environment we’re living in right now and you know what, there’s no reason to get frustrated or upset. We’ve got to just focus on the things that we can control,” Donovan said. “(Tuesday), on our call with the league, they showed some things they’re trying to do inside everybody’s arena to make it look just like a good environment as best they can based on what they did in the bubble in Orlando.”
Donovan, who coached the Oklahoma City Thunder then, has that bubble experience on his resume. The Bulls, who didn’t qualify for the league’s restart to conclude the 2019-20 season, do not. Those games on the Disney World campus featured piped-in crowd noise that sounded bland and artificial to those watching on TV.
“It was just OK,” Donovan said. “The NBA to their credit did as good of a job as you possibly could of creating an environment inside the building. Now, I would not say that it came across like a playoff game on the road. They tried to do some things to generate some noise in there because I think players are probably used to that.
“What kind of fan noise is going to be piped in? I don’t know. I know players were involved in Orlando of giving feedback on the games.”
Back in the dynasty days, the Bulls earned the reputation of being pioneers for in-game entertainment. While team officials haven’t disclosed plans for home games, strict safety protocols and tiered access means, at the very least, the normal foot traffic that accompanies each timeout with mascots and cheerleaders and performers likely won’t be happening. Music and crowd noise could be.
“We're going to have to bring our own energy to every game. Getting used to playing a gym with no fans in it, just being in that environment where not a lot of people are yelling and screaming, there's a lot of internal things going on. You've got to kind of work on yourself during those times,” Wendell Carter Jr. said. “So it was very important for us to come over (to the United Center), especially with us playing on Friday.”
Carter also mentioned the benefit of getting re-acclimated to the United Center rims, which he said have a different feel than those at the Advocate Center.
As for other changes to in-game normalcies, Donovan laughed when asked about current discussions among the National Basketball Coaches Association members regarding coaches’ wardrobe. While ESPN reported that masks are mandatory, suits and sportcoats are now optional, although discussion continues so that games don’t feature culture clashes between different staffs.
“I think I was probably in with most of the guys for the polo,” Donovan said. “I voted for the polo.”
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