Report: If NBA season resumes, Mike D’Antoni to coach with mask

Though D’Antoni is in a higher risk age group for potential COVID-19 illness, he still plans to coach the Rockets if the season resumes.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said that adults over 65 are at a higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19, but that apparently isn’t going to stop Mike D’Antoni from continuing his usual job as head coach of the Houston Rockets.

Should the 2019-20 season resume from its current hiatus, ESPN’s Tim MacMahon reports that D’Antoni — who turns 69 years old on Friday — would have “no reservations” about coaching.

D’Antoni plans to take precautions such as wearing a mask, and he’s confident that NBA Commissioner Adam Silver will not allow the season to resume if safety would be compromised. MacMahon writes:

Rockets sources, however, said that D’Antoni has determined that he would coach if the season resumes, in large part because of confidence in NBA commissioner Adam Silver and the league office to create as safe an environment as possible. Sources said D’Antoni, who has been sheltering in place at his Houston home and plans to take precautions such as wearing a mask, has faith that Silver would not allow the league to resume if the safety of players, coaches and staffers would be compromised.

Two anonymous NBA executives told ESPN last weekend that they were concerned about older coaches and staffers attending games in person. If D’Antoni was not allowed to attend for any reason, Houston does have several assistant coaches of a much younger demographic, including Matt Brase, Brett Gunning, and Dan Hartfield.

The Rockets are set to reopen team facilities at Toyota Center to players on May 18 for individual workouts. But as the head coach, D’Antoni will not be allowed to immediately attend, per the NBA’s reopening terms.

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