Many NBAers had still been practicing at their team facilities in the days since the outbreakNBAE/GETTY IMAGES
The NBA has decided to close team facilities with positive coronavirus tests "mounting and social distancing normalizing" and is not allowing players to "work out in any non-NBA gyms, largely forcing them away from the game while the league and the country tries to slow the spread of the virus," according to Dan Woike of the L.A. TIMES. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver on Wednesday said NBA players could be considered "super spreaders" due to their close work proximity and traveling frequency. That is in part why the NBA "instructed teams to close their facilities." Three members of the 76ers organization and one from the Nuggets yesterday "tested positive for the virus," as well as two Lakers players. Celtics G Marcus Smart yesterday also posted to Twitter that he had "tested positive," bringing the number of infected NBA players to 10 (L.A. TIMES, 3/20). The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Beaton & Cohen note the NBA has "emerged as a hotbed of the virus" since Jazz C Rudy Gobert tested positive last week (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 3/20). Meanwhile, in Denver, Mike Singer cites a source as saying that no players or any other member of the Nuggets organization "planned to get tested ... unless they felt symptoms" (DENVER POST, 3/20).
RIGHT, BUT UNPOPULAR, MOVE: ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowksi said the idea of closing team facilities has been "ongoing between the league and teams." All parties decided that having people stay at home was the best option, and having facilities open "didn't match up" ("The Jump," ESPN, 3/19). In N.Y., Kristian Winfield writes shutting down team practice facilities is the "right move by the NBA, even if it isn't popular." Not all players have "regulation-sized basketball courts in their homes," so some will "find it difficult to stay sharp on the court while the season is suspended." Winfield: "Health and sanity take priority" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 3/20). ESPN's Brian Windhorst said closing team sites is going to "slow down a return" for the NBA, as some players may not have "access to a good basket to shoot at." The league does not want players leaving their house even if they "don't have a facility at their home" ("The Jump," ESPN, 3/19).
WILL THEY OR WON'T THEY? In N.Y., Marc Berman writes the NBA's edict "doesn't bode well for picking up the regular season with all 30 clubs" (N.Y. POST, 3/20). T'Wolves Owner Glen Taylor said that he "believes the league will do all it can to get the regular season finished and go on to the postseason." Taylor: "I'm really hopeful. I think we're going to do it, if it's at all possible. This is a health issue that we have no control over, but I think for our players and our fans, I would like to see us take a break and hopefully we can get back in 30 days and finish the season. I think the playoffs, they're just so much fun and so important to our fans and our players" (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 3/20).
