NBA ready to reopen facilities
NBA players will be allowed to return to team training facilities starting Friday, provided that their local governments do not have a stay-at-home order prohibiting such movement still in place as part of the response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Any workouts that take place would be voluntary and be limited to individual sessions only, according to a person familiar with the league’s decision. The person spoke to The Associated Press on Saturday on condition of anonymity because the directives from the league were not released publicly.
Group practices would not be allowed yet, and teams will not yet be permitted to organize in-person workouts.
But as certain states and municipalities began loosening restrictions on personal movement, the NBA decided it was time to let players return to their practice courts — if only on a limited basis. Georgia and Oklahoma are among the states that have allowed some businesses to reopen and some cities in Florida are expected to loosen their stay-at-home policies in the coming days, even though health officials are warning that such moves are being made too quickly.
For those teams in cities where stay-at-home orders still make such a return impossible, the NBA said it would work to find “alternative arrangements,” the person with knowledge of the matter said.
This move does not mean that a resumption of games is imminent. Still, the decision to let teams back into facilities is a significant step.
ESPN first reported details of the NBA’s decision.
Baseball: Retired Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully is back home after falling and being hospitalized. The team quoted Scully on Twitter Saturday saying, “I'm home and resting comfortably with my wife and we are both eagerly awaiting the Time for Dodger Baseball!” The 92-year-old fell Tuesday at his Los Angeles-area home . ... A major league official testified he suggested Angel Hernandez be removed from consideration for the 2015 World Series because he did not think Commissioner Rob Manfred would approve the umpire to work baseball’s premier event. Hernandez sued MLB in 2017, alleging race discrimination and cited his failure to be assigned to the World Series since 2005 and MLB’s failure to promote him to crew chief. Documents and depositions from pretrial discovery were filed late Friday night and early Saturday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.
Colleges: Wake Forest fired men’s basketball coach Danny Manning on Saturday after losing seasons in five of his six years and only one NCAA Tournament appearance. Manning, the former Kansas star and No. 1 overall NBA draft pick, went 78-111 in WinstonSalem with a 30-80 mark in ACC regular-season games . ... Gonzaga sophomore Joel Ayayi declared for the NBA draft but will not hire an agent. The 6-foot-5 guard from France said said his top option remains returning for his junior season. Ayayi started 23 of 33 games last season, averaging 10.6 points and 6.3 rebounds . ... Chris Marcus, a two-time Associated Press All-America honorable mention selection during a decorated career at center for Western Kentucky, has died. He was 40. The school said Marcus died Thursday in his hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina, but did not state a cause of death. The 7-foot-1 Marcus had 1,113 points and 795 rebounds for the Hilltoppers and led the nation at 12.1 boards per game in 2001 . ... The NCAA Division I Council denied a request to temporarily waive the minimum number of sports required to be a Division I member and delayed a decision on allowing all college athletes to be immediately eligible one time after transferring. The transfer waiver working group recommended in February to allow all athletes to transfer one-time in four years without sitting out a season.
Soccer: Poland’s premier league plans to restart on May 29 after the government decided to ease restrictions imposed to fight the coronavirus pandemic. The decision makes Poland one of the first countries in Europe to set a date to resume a league that was suspended on March 13. “It’s great news,” said Marcin Animucki, the head of the 16-team league, the Ekstraklasa. He stressed the plan to resume matches on May 29 was dependent on the health situation in Poland.