NBA heads toward restarting with extreme caution
The NBA says some players can voluntarily return to their team practice facilities starting Friday, with some very specific conditions and only in places where local and U.S. state governments have signed off on such openings.
It’s unclear how many — if any — players will be back on the floor Friday when the league ban is lifted. Miami is allowed to open its doors for the first time in six weeks, but won’t until at least Monday while it works out certain logistical details. Orlando isn’t going to welcome players back immediately, either.
The same goes for Utah, the first NBA team to deal with the coronavirus after Rudy Gobert tested positive March 11 and the league shut down almost immediately. And most teams aren’t allowed to open yet to because of local rules.
Basketball hasn’t been played for two months and the league, the teams and the players still seem to have a universal desire to get back to work, finish this season and crown a champion. But, perhaps mindful of challenges other leagues have faced in their efforts to resume play amid a coronavirus pandemic that has shut down the sports world, the NBA seems to be moving with extreme caution.
“The biggest goal is to have the confidence of the players and the staff that they can enter the facility safely,” Utah general manager Dennis Lindsey said.
Simultaneously, everyone wants to play, and everyone wonders if it’s safe to play. It’s like all parties involved know that a major misstep now could doom any realistic chance of playing any time in the next few months.
“Our task force at the league is studying how do we get back to playing basketball again, following the data, looking at every possible model,” Magic CEO Alex Martins said this week while addressing an Orlando economic forum.
And opening the practice courts is only Phase One. Phase Two is not imminent. Games are not close. Getting players back into facilities is not a precursor to games being played, it’s more about keeping them out of public gyms and playgrounds that are starting to reopen. Positive tests during individual training or practices could delay or destroy plans for games.
There are reasons for hope. The NBA is working toward a plan to test players if the season resumes. It has exchanged data with leagues across the world, and there have been success stories. Baseball is being played in South Korea. MLS teams returned to fields Wednesday for workouts with restrictions. Germany’s top soccer league has allowed players to return to training facilities, even though some staff and players have tested positive.
It’s the NBA’s turn to start seeing where it stands.
The rules to which NBA teams will have to adhere when they resume even the voluntary workouts are like none previously put in place.
A four-metre buffer between everyone, one player per basket, one ball per basket, no more than four players in the facility at once. Everyone must wear masks and gloves, the lone exception being players while they work out. And every player must undergo cardiac screening before resuming voluntary workouts.