Nearly two months after indefinitely suspending the 2019-2020 regular season in the wake of Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert testing positive for the coronavirus (COVID-19), the NBA is poised to take a significant step forward in some cities by the end of the week.
On April 25 it was reported the league would permit teams to re-open their practice facilities, starting May 1, in states where stay-at-home orders had already been loosened or were tracking to not be as stringent.
However, teams reportedly voiced their concerns over safety, prompting the NBA to push back their targeted re-open date. That now remains scheduled for Friday, barring any unexpected developments, according to Marc Stein of The New York Times:
The NBA, I’m told, just notified its teams that it intends to allow practice facilities in states where shelter-in-place regulations have been eased to re-open Friday as planned … “pending new developments”
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) May 6, 2020
NBA teams will receive a further update Wednesday on the various specifics involved, league sources say, with any strength and conditioning activities (such as weightlifting with a spotter) prohibited if it requires players and staff members to be closer than 12 feet apart
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) May 6, 2020
Although the NBA is granting teams the latitude to make respective decisions with their practice facilities, it doesn’t figure to apply to the Los Angeles Lakers at present time.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom did announce the state was entering phase two of his four-stage plan on Friday, but that is limited to lower risk businesses being permitted to reopen. Counties still retain the authority to decide whether or not to enter the second phase based on their local conditions.
The Lakers reportedly were among the professional teams in California that attempted to lobby Gov. Newsom to move sports into the second phase of his plan. Newsom recently outlined his steps to re-opening California, with sports not returning until phase three (without fans in attendance) and phase four (with fans).
Los Angeles County is still under a stay-at-home order through at least May 15.