NBA Allowing Practice Facilities To Reopen
Oct 30, 2020, 11:51 AM | Updated: 12:09 pm
Player practice at the Zions Bank Basketball Center (Photo: Ben Anderson)
(Photo: Ben Anderson)
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The NBA is allowing its teams to reopen their practice facilities. According to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, the facilities will be made available to players for offseason workouts amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
“The NBA has informed its 30 teams that they are now allowed to open practice facilities for group practices, workouts and scrimmages with up to 10 players,” sources told Charania.
The NBA has informed its 30 teams that they are now allowed to open practice facilities for group practices, workouts and scrimmages with up to 10 players, sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 30, 2020
The NBA season concluded on October 11 with the Los Angeles Lakers defeating the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals. However, much of the league has been away from the basketball floor since mid-August when six of the league’s teams that returned to the NBA bubble in Orlando were eliminated from playoff contention.
Another eight teams haven’t seen competitive action since March 11 when the season was suspended after Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19. The eight teams that weren’t invited to Orlando were allowed to host mini-camps for their rosters from mid-September through early October.
The NBA will continue to test players who choose to return to their team’s practice facilities. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, a league memo indicated the tests were mandatory.
“NBA players must be tested every day for the coronavirus and return a negative test each time to be allowed to participate in offseason workouts at team facilities, according to a memo shared with teams today,” Wojnarowski tweeted.
NBA players must be tested every day for the coronavirus and return a negative test each time to be allowed to participate in offseason workouts at team facilities, according to a memo shared with teams today.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) October 30, 2020
Friday was originally set as the deadline for the NBA and the league’s Players Association to agree on plans for the remaining offseason schedule and the beginning of the 2020-21 season, however, the deadline is expected to be pushed back as negotiations continue.
