2. The Los Angeles Lakers still will benefit from home-court advantage
Please hear (or read) me out on this one.
First of all, we don’t know if fans will be in the stands come playoff time. We’ve seen lots of good news on the vaccine front, with two very effective and very safe vaccines that have been available for two months, a third about to be available and possibly more on the way.
With President Joe Biden spurring vaccine manufacturers to ramp up production and distribution of vaccines, perhaps enough people will have gotten them by late May or early June that it will be safe for arenas to have at least partial capacity.
Even if there are still no fans in the stands by then, home-court advantage still matters.
When these athletes play on the road, they have to fly from city to city and check into and out of hotels, which disrupts their sleep patterns. I used to think that these guys didn’t need much sleep, but a recent expose by ESPN’s Baxter Holmes schooled us all on how important it is for even supremely-talented and conditioned athletes to get their eight hours a night.
Then there’s also the matter of getting to practice shooting in your own arena, with the shooting background that you’re used to, getting to practice at your own facility, getting treatment at your own facility, and maintaining preferred pre-game routines.
In addition, when playing at home, guys can sleep in their own beds, spend time with their kids, parents, aunts/uncles, wives, girlfriends, etc. That helps put them in the right frame of mind to play their best.