The Houston Rockets are likely to target Monday, May 18 as the official reopening of Toyota Center to players for individual workouts, as first reported by Mark Medina of USA TODAY Sports.
Facilities have been closed since March 19 amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. But with stay-at-home orders for many NBA cities expiring in May, the league recently said it would allow facilities to reopen as soon as Friday, May 8 in areas without government restrictions.
With Texas in the process of a phased reopening, the Rockets had previously indicated that they wanted to reopen Toyota Center to the team’s players on the first permissible day (this Friday).
But in a Tuesday news conference, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott clarified that under his plan, the state’s reopening date for gyms is May 18. In addition, many of the team’s players are currently at offseason homes outside of Houston and would not be in town this weekend, anyway. Thus, the Rockets are likely to defer to the state’s official timeline.
Change of plans: Rockets plan to open their gyms for individual workouts on May 18. Texas governor Gregg Abbott announced last night about pushing back gym reopenings from May 8 to May 18 https://t.co/362LUDw6HA
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) May 6, 2020
For the time being, the NBA facilities will only be opened on a limited basis for individual player workouts under strict physical distancing protocols, and not for any sort of conventional group practice.
The timetable for returning to more traditional practices, along with eventually resuming the 2019-20 season, remains unknown. The league continues to monitor developments with COVID-19 testing infrastructure, which needs to be in place for a potential return to team play.
[lawrence-related id=29301]
Without widespread coronavirus testing available to country, NBA remains sensitive on using tests w/ players showing no symptoms entering facilities to start workouts. If/when NBA opens camps for a formal return to play, there's an understanding testing protocols would change. https://t.co/3Wbo3K1dgj
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) May 6, 2020