As the country begins to reopen after a multi-week lockdown, the NBA appears set to follow suit. On Saturday, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the NBA will be allowing teams in states that have begun loosening lockdown restrictions to open up practice facilities once more.
Players can return to team facilities in states such as Georgia for voluntary individual workouts as soon as next week, which allows for NBA organizations to start allowing players to return to training in a professional, safe environment.
Teams will remain prohibited from holding group workouts or organized team activities, sources said.
For teams in states where the lockdown restrictions haven’t been lifted, the NBA intends to figure out alternative plans as well in hopes of keeping players from traveling to states with fewer restrictions to work out.
In Louisiana, the state has not loosened restrictions yet. For now, the Pelicans are one of the teams who would not yet be able to open up practice facilities.
Another aspect that will need to be tackled is that players are not currently in New Orleans. Lonzo Ball returned to California during the lockdown and has spent time in his family’s mansion alongside brothers LaMelo and LiAngelo. JJ Redick, for example, also left New Orleans and has been quarantined elsewhere while still recording his podcast.
It’s a logistical headache that teams will have to start taking steps to overcome. But it’s also a step toward the potential return of the league. The response of the rest of the country as the economy reopens will determine what the next steps for the league and the country will be.
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