The NBA is on its way; 30 teams will play 82 games each in just six months. Playing multiple games a week across the country, teams will be on the road for weeks on end. So, how do NBA teams travel from one stadium to another? Let’s Talk Aviation!
NBA Schedule
After two seasons heavily impacted by Covid, the NBA is going back to business as usual for the most part. After the NBA bubble in Disneyland at the end of the 2019-20 season and the temporary relocation of the Toronto Raptors to Tampa, Florida to deal with travel restrictions.
However, Covid certainly had an impact on how the games were scheduled. Last year, the NBA introduced two-game series where two teams would play back-to-back games in the same city. The same way the MLB combines multiple games into a series where the same teams match up in the same arena for a couple of consecutive days.
While they were a necessity the previous season due to the more condensed schedule and to reduce the contacts of players with one another, they will stay in the schedule this year to reduce travel.
Road trips
However, these measures can reduce travel, but road trips will remain a big part of the operations of an NBA team. This year, the LA Clippers have the longest road trip. They will play eight away games between January 20 and February 1. The Clippers will play in Denver, Philadelphia, New York, Washington, Orlando, Miami, Charlotte, and Indianapolis. All in the span of just thirteen days.
Some teams even have recurring road trips, like the San Antonio Spurs, their famous rodeo road trip takes place each year in February. Right when their home venue, the AT&T Centre is used for the annual San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo. This year, however, the rodeo road trip will be interrupted by the All-Star break. Let’s get into how NBA teams travel.
The Delta Deal
Luckily for the players, they don’t have to travel economy with JetBlue or Spirit, but they have the luxury of flying private. Most teams have entered an agreement with Delta Air Lines for their travel needs.
The airline has converted 11 Boeing 757-200 aircraft in an all-business configuration with plenty of leg space, sleeper seats, larger lavatories, and a food and drink service that is adjusted to the preferences of each team. The planes are fitted with 72 seats, more than enough for an entire team with coaches and other support staff.
During the 2015-16 season, when Delta entered the agreement with almost all of the 30 teams, they mentioned that the revenue from these `NBA’ flights was about 65 million US dollars over 1700 flights during the regular season and the playoffs, for an average price of about 38 thousand dollars per flight.
While Delta operates the flights, they don’t own the planes. The planes are actually leased by a trust of the NBA. The deal, however, allows Delta to use the planes for non-NBA charter flights when they aren’t needed to fly the NBA teams around the country.
Dallas Mavericks & Mark Cuban
As I mentioned before, not all teams participate in the deal. One of the most prominent are the Dallas Mavericks, the franchise – owned by Mark Cuban – has its own plane. Or at least, their owner lets them use of his. The Mavericks get to use either his 757 or 767 for road games.
Accident
On March 30 of 2021, the Utah Jazz were on their way to Memphis for a matchup against the Grizzlies when shortly after take-off, the plane hit a flock of birds. The bird strike damaged the nose of the plane and resulted in a left engine fire. The pilots declared an emergency right away and the plane returned safely to Salt Lake International Airport.
Luckily all on board were physically unharmed. However, one of the Jazz’s star players Donavan Mitchell opted not to take the next flight but to sit this one out. The Jazz eventually ended up winning 111-107 over the Grizzlies.