MILLER THE FIRST RAPTOR BACK IN TEAM’S FACILITY
Toronto NBA squad opts to allow only one player, one coach on court at a time
Toronto Raptors forward Malcolm Miller hasn’t had a basketball in his hands with a hoop in front of him in more than two months.
So, when word came that the Raptors, in conjunction with health officials and local government, hammered out an agreement that would see the team safely able to use its practice facility in limited fashion, Miller was the first to request entry.
On Monday morning, he and assistant coach Brittni Donaldson entered the OVO centre, were checked in by a single security officer, had their temperatures taken by an on-site health official, and filled out a health form before entering the gym.
Once in the gym, it was only Donaldson and Miller. The Raptors, under NBA guidelines, could have as many as four players in the gym at one time to adhere to social distancing mandates, but to be as careful as possible, the team has opted to allow just one player in at a time with just one on-court coach.
That could change in the coming days, but for now, that’s the format.
For an hour, Donaldson put Miller through the paces. They worked on his shooting and his ball-handling, but not much else for the time being, given how long it’s been since Miller did any basketball activity.
Still, Miller couldn’t say enough about the opportunity.
“It definitely felt strange,” said Miller, a third-year forward. “I missed it. It was a good experience just to have the basketball in your hands, feel the basketball and just get back to the game you love, even in a different format. It’s still a good experience.”
For Donaldson, there was no trepidation re-entering the working environment that has been closed off to her for more than two months. She saw the process unfold as the team prepared to safely bring staff and players back to work and she felt fully secure returning.
“It’s all completely voluntary for everybody,” she said. “I think we’ve been in contact with everybody in the organization from the top down about this possibility happening, about the facility possibly opening. We’ve covered all of our bases, we’ve been really deliberate about making sure everybody feels safe, and we’re taking the extra precautionary steps to go above and beyond even what the NBA mandated. We’re only allowing one player in the gym at a time. We’re not allowing the players to bring their phones in, for example.
“I felt a sense of comfort just for the work our organization has done logistically to make this as smooth and organized a process as possible.”
Miller, whose off-season home is in Gaithersburg, Md., has remained in Toronto since the league shut down in early March because there wasn’t access to a private gym or facility where he could work out.
He stayed in Toronto and got his workouts in at home, whether that was a P90X program or the group yoga sessions via video that the Raptors do a couple of mornings each week. He also has a stationary bike the team delivered to his Toronto digs, and a bench and weights.
But he had nowhere to take shots or play basketball. While Monday was just a small step in the broader scheme of a return to work, it was a very big step for him personally.
“I wouldn’t say it was a race, but I definitely requested to be first,” he said of getting his time in the reopened team practice gym. “I like to always be in there early, get my work done. Been heavy on the piano and into video games (lately), so that gives me a little extra time for that.
“Just trying to get back to a normal routine,” he said. “During the season, we’d come into the gym before 11 a.m., before noon, to get our work in, so I’m just trying to make it feel as normal as possible.”
Miller says the plan is to take advantage of the opportunity four or five times a week. Again, it’s strictly voluntary. Teams can’t pressure players into these workouts. Chris Paul, president of the players’ association, took care of that when he mentioned it to NBA commissioner Adam Silver on a conference call last week.
Silver at the time said such a move by any team would be “disheartening,” and assured Paul and the rest of the players on the call that he would reiterate this to all team management groups.
Miller said he was surprised how quickly his jumper came back, but admitted his dribbling skills weren’t quite what they had been before the pandemic shutdown.
As it stands, about half of the team is in Toronto, and as of Wednesday, about half of those players had decided to take the opportunity to put some shots up. That could change at any point.
“I think that’s kind of fluid, you know, It’s kind of day by day,” Donaldson said. “We take a poll of who would be interested in coming in and we try to put out a schedule, but obviously it’s all voluntary. There’s no pressure, no repercussions if somebody doesn’t want to come in. We’re just trying to keep a rolling schedule and keep it as organized as possible.”