By allowing teams to reopen their practice facilities, the NBA is hoping to give players a safe environment in which to work out — and to encourage them not to frequent public gyms which won’t have the same safety protocols in place. However, as ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne writes, there’s skepticism among some league executives that players will be enthusiastic about jumping through so many hoops to get an hour-long workout in.
“Players are saying, ‘I can do my stuff at high school gyms, or whatever else I’ve been using right now, without having to go through all these protocols,'” a Western Conference general manager told ESPN. “And I can work out as long as I want there — not just an hour.”
Additionally, many players have left their home teams’ markets since the league went on hiatus nearly two months ago, and may be reluctant to return to those cities until they have a clearer sense of a timeline to resume the season, according to Shelburne. One team executive told ESPN he’d be surprised if any of his players returned to town right away to use the club’s reopened facilities.
“It took two to three weeks for everything to unwind when we shut down,” one high-profile agent said. “It’ll take at least that long for guys to get back to town. And they’re not going to start flying back until they hear the league is starting up again.”
Here’s more on the coronavirus and how it’s affecting the NBA:
- NBA teams believe that local government officials would need to permit gatherings of up to 50 people for full practices to resume and gatherings of up to 200 people to actually play games, sources tell Shelburne.
- Some team officials around the league are worried about the psychological effects that returning to organized activities during the coronavirus pandemic might have on certain individuals, writes Baxter Holmes of ESPN. As Holmes points out, there are a number of players, coaches, and executives across the NBA who could be considered “germaphobes” — the players in that group may not be comfortable being back on the court in the coming weeks.
- As teams begin to reopen their practice facilities, they have been informed by the NBA that anyone with a temperature greater than 99 Fahrenheit should not be permitted to enter, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
- Chris Mannix of SI.com has heard that the NBA could wait as long as late June before making any decisions on the resumption of its 2019/20 season.
- In case you missed it, we’ve published several other coronavirus-related items today, including some updates on the NBA’s discussions to resume the season, Michele Roberts‘ concerns about the “bubble” location concept, and the NBA allowing teams to begin testing asymptomatic individuals for COVID-19.
Boy, oh boy! I am sick with all the madness going around the world, there are so many more viruses killing more people (Zika, AIDS, flu, rotavirus, norovirus…) & we don’t stop the world for them! Please let’s get back to normal life & hoops!
Sure, but not because covid19 is weak. It’s the opposite: there is not much humans can do about SARS infections.
IMO: Every wave of it will slice off a new percentage of the population until a new immunity method is found or created. So, better to keep society busy and evolved, keep tax receipts up, and wait for science to catch up.
“Flattening the curve” is not a worthy goal anymore. The quickness advantage has been played out. The same amount of people will die no matter what the shape of the curve, as long as respirators are in adequate supply.
More time means more research but I doubt the time is being well-spent.
The method science has of guiding the body’s own immune system via educating antibodies by installing similar infections, needs updating, but I ramble. Lung lining, alveolar macrophages