Nets were thrown into travel chaos during the FAA ground stop: Something we couldnt control
MEMPHIS — The name of the game in the NBA is adjustments. It’s usually about adjusting to other teams.But for the Nets — and a host of others around the league over the past two days — it was adjusting their travel. The Nets — who were en route to face the Grizzlies — got thrown into travel chaos Friday night and Saturday morning, just like the rest of the country.
The Federal Aviation Administration’s decision to ground every flight nationwide for hours Friday left travelers scrambling, and the Nets were among them. “Yeah, I mean, obviously it was something that we couldn’t control,” Nets coach Jordi Fernández said.“And to be honest with you, it was not that bad.
We had good rest and got here [Saturday] morning and did our walkthrough, and probably [would have] gone to the gym, but we were not able to.And I think we feel good and ready to go.” The ground stop lasted over four hours before the FAA finally let airplanes take off Friday night.
The Nets were one of five NBA teams that had been slated to fly that day for games Saturday. Brooklyn had been coming off a dominant 142-111 victory over the Pelicans on Wednesday night at Smoothie King Arena.They had stayed in New Orleans and practiced in the city Friday morning before heading to the airport to charter to Memphis. The Nets had just boarded their team plane in New Orleans, but had their flight halted in place.
They eventually had to deboard the plane, scramble and find a hotel and stay overnight in New Orleans. Eventually, the Nets flew out at about 9 a.m.Saturday and arrived around 11 a.m., though the times blurred to Fernández. “Every day feels the same day and I just know the team that I play against in the city that I’m in,” Fernández laughed.
“I don’t know about time, sorry.” The Nets had initially planned to have a morning shootaround in Memphis.But arriving that morning instead of the afternoon prior, their plans got changed. They faced the Grizzlies ...