The Hawks wanted to take more time before reopening their training facilitiesHAWKS
The NBA initially made plans to "mirror the states removing stay-at-home orders on Friday" and open its training facilities, but those plans were pushed back to May 8 as some league execs were "unhappy with the plan," according to Dan Woike of the L.A. TIMES. Team officials for the Hawks said that they "weren’t interested in reopening team facilities until they were more comfortable" with Georgia's protocols. Mavericks Owner Mark Cuban also "expressed similar sentiments." Woike notes the "concern primarily centers on player health and safety, and not on competitive advantage." One NBA exec said that the "general sense" is that "'if there is a will, there’s a way,' meaning players are finding ways to stay in shape and continue shooting workouts even if it means violating stay-at-home orders" (L.A. TIMES, 4/28). Hawks President of Basketball Operations & GM Travis Schlenk said, "We are going to wait and see what happens in the state over the couple weeks. If there's a positive response, we'll slowly open up. If it's a negative response, we'll make sure our staff and players remain healthy." ESPN.com's Adrian Wojnarowski noted among a dozen NBA GMs, most said that they had "apprehensions about bringing back players into facilities in regions where politics, not science and medical expertise, seemed to be driving the reopening of businesses" (ESPN.com, 4/27). On Long Island, Steve Popper cites a source as saying that teams who can reopen "must assign one senior executive as a facility hygiene officer, responsible for scheduling workouts and coordinating all of the necessary planning for the arrival of players" (NEWSDAY, 4/28).
TEAM PLANS: ESPN.com's Dave McMenamin cites sources as saying that the Lakers have been "in contact" with L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti's office to "discuss the possibility of opening their practice facility for players before the current shelter-at-home order for L.A. residents expires on May 15." Sources added that the Lakers have "not made recommendations to any of the handful of players who are out of town as to when they should return to L.A." (ESPN.com, 4/28). In Boston, Mark Murphy notes the Celtics "may be looking at a longer timeline before anyone is allowed into the Auerbach Center." Boston Mayor Marty Walsh yesterday said that the city will "not allow nonessential businesses to reopen May 4." A source yesterday said that the team’s actions, and those of its players, "depend solely on the decisions of local and state government, and that the team is still evaluating what to do" (BOSTON HERALD, 4/28). The Kings issued a statement yesterday reasserting that their Golden 1 Center facilities will "remain closed in accordance with public health orders because of the coronavirus" (SACRAMENTO BEE, 4/28). In Orlando, Roy Parry writes the plan "does not address how workouts would resume for teams in markets where stay-in-place orders remain," which is an "interesting scenario because the league has been steadfast about avoiding competitive imbalance but even more adamant about maintaining the health and safety of players and staff" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 4/28).
JUST STAY PATIENT: ESPN's Wojnarowski noted an NBA GM told him, “If we need a 15-page memo from the league to get one guy in and out of our building just so he can … get shots up, maybe the timing is not right” ("SportsCenter," ESPN, 4/27). ESPN Radio’s Mike Golic Jr. said the NBA has to “play the optics game” and the “safety game” when considering its strategy to reopen facilities. Golic Jr. said, “If one of these spots or just a couple of these spots open, we’re going to have guys migrating.” For a league that "wields as much power" as the NBA, "if people see your guys moving and doing this, it’s going to be a signal to a lot of folks that it’s okay to do this probably before it is” (“Golic & Wingo, ESPN Radio, 4/28). ESPN's Max Kellerman said the NBA is "right to aggressively try to position themselves so that if there’s an opportunity they quickly get back to business," but he is "not really optimistic that that’s going to happen” (“First Take,” ESPN, 4/28). ESPN's Wojnarowski noted the NBA is "willing to push the calendar on this season" and "more willing than ever to delay the start of next season." This approach "might give them more time next year to be able to have fans in the building.” Wojnarowski: “This isn't just a ‘let's figure out the next couple months and this season,’ this is a two, three, four-year look moving forward” (“SportsCenter,” ESPN, 4/27).
PLAYER'S PERSPECTIVE: In N.Y., Howie Kussoy notes the pushback in timing comes just two days after NBA Commissioner Adam Silver "sent an internal memo to team owners on the competition committee detailing a plan to allow players to return to team facilities in states with loosened stay-at-home restrictions" as of May 1. But a source said that the NBPA "hadn’t approved it" (N.Y. POST, 4/28). In N.Y., Marc Berman cited a source as saying that the union is "frustrated at recent lines of communication regarding the pandemic’s effect on the season." In a recent conference call with agents, the union "expressed concern it occasionally finds out about NBA-related pandemic developments from the news media" (N.Y. POST, 4/26).
HEADLINES: In Toronto, Doug Smith writes under the header, "Opening Of NBA Practice Facilities A Welcome Move But Isn't Close To Being A Huge Step Toward A Return" (TORONTO STAR, 4/28). SI.com's Michael McCann wrote under the header, "Economics Hard To Ignore As NBA Looks To Reopen Practice Facilities" (SI.com, 4/27).
