The NBA has put out a press release clarifying their position on when teams can begin to use their training facilities again, stating the earliest teams will be able to begin to use them again in areas where ‘stay at home’ orders have been lifted will be May 8.
Additionally, teams would be limited to having only four players at any given time, with no head or assistant coaches present and any sort of group activities remaining off the table.
Teams in areas where such local restrictions are not being lifted will be able to work with the lague to find alternative options, but individual players are still to be banned from using public health clubs, gyms, and similar facilities.
New story soon ESPN, but to be clear: The NBA was already working to push back its initial May 1 date to re-open facilities independent of Atlanta's decision to delay its own re-opening. The league was getting feedback from all corners on the issue. https://t.co/Wy7bOPDwST
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 27, 2020
The NBA stated the reasoning behind this policy change “is to allow for safe and controlled environments for players to train in states that allow them to do so,” noting that the timetable may be pushed back further if circumstances warrant.
It seems the league is doing its best to take a measured approach taking into consideration concerns of players and organizations that a return to action will require several weeks of training with the unavoidable realities forced on all of us concerning the pandemic.
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