NBA teams have been given permission to reopen practice facilities starting May 8 for voluntary, social-distanced workouts, as the league remains hopeful of salvaging its 2019-2020 season.
ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne and Tim McMahon reported that as of today, only three teams — the Portland Trailblazers, Denver Nuggets and Cleveland Cavaliers — plan to follow the May 8 reopening.
The Houston Rockets will reopen practice facilities on May 18, the day Texas Gov. Greg Abbott lifts the ban on gyms and sports practice facilities.
Other teams, including the Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers, are in “no rush to return.”
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said on The Athletic’s 77 Minutes in Heaven podcast that the teams’ inability to test all its players for Covid-19 makes the reopening of practice facilities a “risk not worth the reward.”
The league on May 4 sent teams an extensive memorandum, which states strict measures for practices such as the four-players-only limit, 12-feet social distancing, one-player-one-basket and other rules.
Head coaches and front office workers were also prohibited from attending practices.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and National Basketball Players Association executive director Michele Roberts have set an all-player meeting on May 8, which will be an “open forum” to address player concerns. John Ezekiel J. Hirro