Curry, Green are doubtful for minicamp
Starting this week, the Warriors will be able to play organized basketball for the first time in six months, but will most likely be doing so without two of their star players.
Citing family reasons, Stephen Curry and Draymond Green are considered doubtful to participate in the team’s voluntary minicamp, head coach Steve Kerr told the Bay Area News Group. Green is also contributing commentary for TNT’s broadcasts during playoff games in the NBA bubble.
The two-week camp will begin today, with players reporting to a team-designated hotel in San Francisco. There, they will undergo coronavirus testing and quarantine for 48 hours before beginning group workouts at Chase Center on Wednesday. Players will stay at the hotel for the full two weeks, leaving only by private vans to work out at the arena.
At the hotel, the Warriors will have two floors designated only for players and staff. They will receive three meals per day and have a ballroom available for entertainment purposes, where they can watch playoff games and movies and enjoy food and drink. Family will not be permitted to stay at the hotel.
Warriors assistant general manager Kirk Lacob dubbed the camp “The Double,” a nod to the NBA bubble in Florida, where most NBA teams have been operating since the resumption of the season. The Warriors are one of eight teams that didn’t qualify for play; only these eight teams are allowed to hold this camp, which runs Sept. 21-Oct. 6.
Along with the league office, players’ association and general managers from the other seven teams, the Warriors helped spearhead the planning of these workouts, resulting in a 57-page safety protocol manual. Anyone who comes in contact with the players will be tested for the coronavirus.
“There were lots and lots of experts involved,” Lacob said.
Most Warriors players — including Klay Thompson, Kevon Looney, Andrew Wiggins and Eric Paschall — are expected to participate. Kerr anticipates a
“pick-up ball”-type atmosphere and doesn’t plan to teach specifics of the playbook — something he will save for training camp. In addition to daily workouts, which will include scrimmages, Kerr will invite guest speakers to talk to the team through RingCentral, a video conferencing software.
“It’s really informal,” Kerr said in a phone interview Thursday. “It’s almost more important just to be together. Much less structured than training camp.”
Coaches and players will be available to local media each day via video conference. If Curry and Green decide to participate, they can join at any time during the two-week camp after undergoing coronavirus testing and a 48-hour quarantine.