New NBA Covid19 protocols enacted

LOS ANGELES: NBA players should stay at their residences when they are at home and in their hotels when on the road for at least the next two weeks, the league said yesterday in a list of new health protocols designed to limit Covid19’s impact on the season.

The league, which postponed four games this week due to the virus, is trying to avoid a leaguewide suspension of play like the one that derailed it in March before it returned in a ‘‘bubble’’ environment in Orlando in July.

The NBA said the new protocols, which take effect immediately, were issued ‘‘in response to the surge of Covid19 cases across the country and an uptick among NBA teams requiring potential player quarantines’’.

Players and team staff can leave their homes to attend teamrelated activities, exercise outside, perform essential activities or as a result of extraordinary circumstances, the protocols said.

While at hotels, players and team staff are prohibited from leaving, except for team activities or emergencies. They are also barred from interacting with nonteam guests.

Players and coaches must wear face masks at all times on the bench and in the locker room, according to the protocols, which were endorsed by the players’ union.

‘‘Upon exiting the game, and prior to returning to the bench, players can sit in ‘cool down chairs’, arranged at least 12 feet (3.6m) from the bench with each chair six feet apart, where face masks are not required,’’ according to the protocols.

Players must also limit their pre and postgame interactions to elbow and fist bumps and maintain 1.8m of distance as much as possible.

Elsewhere, the rules limited the length of team meetings, mandated that massages and physical therapy at a hotel occur in a ballroom or other large open space, and prohibited players from arriving at the arena more than three hours before tipoff.

The league on Monday said it had no plans to put its season on hold, as teams struggle to make available a leaguemandated eightman roster for games due to injuries and Covid19 contact tracing.

The league said its rules may be additionally amended during the 202021 season ‘‘as the ongoing Covid19 pandemic evolves’’.