NEW YORK — The NBA unveiled its latest scheduling improvements Wednesday, including a seven-city Western Conference road trip designed to test whether professional athletes can remember what their own beds look like.
Under the new format, an Eastern Conference team could travel from Boston to Los Angeles, Sacramento, Portland, San Francisco, Phoenix, Denver and Utah before finally returning home approximately three fiscal quarters later.
League officials called the system “travel optimized.”
Players used several different words.
The itinerary reportedly includes 11 flights, six hotels, four time zones and one morning when the entire roster wakes up completely unsure whether it is Tuesday.
Coaches say the most difficult part of long road trips is maintaining routine.
That routine currently consists of checking out, boarding a bus, boarding a plane, checking into another hotel and asking the equipment manager what city they are in.
The NBA defended the schedule by noting that teams travel privately and stay in luxury accommodations.
Players acknowledged this before emphasizing that even a five-star hotel eventually becomes depressing when the lobby staff knows your defensive rating.
The team returns home March 18.
Their luggage is expected sometime in April.
