By Michael Houston |
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is set to open team facilities for players to train individually as some American states move to lift restrictions on movement.
Due to the coronavirus crisis, the NBA ordered teams to close their facilities more than a month ago, but after Georgia eased some restrictions, the NBA will now relax its own rules.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, teams will be allowed to open their practice facilities from May 1 in cities where local Governments have reduced lockdown measures.
The Atlanta Hawks, based in Georgia, would be one team in a position to take advantage of this.
According to the report, group activities would still be prohibited.
Teams are said to be in favor of the move because they believe they can provide players with sterile environments to train, rather than using facilities which may be shared with the public.
The NBA was hit by COVID-19 when Utah Jazz player Rudy Gobert tested positive for the virus, leading to a shutdown of operations.
Several other players have contracted the virus, including two-time Olympic champion Kevin Durant.
The mother of Minnesota Timberwolves centre Karl-Anthony Towns passed away after complications from COVID-19.
There have been more than 960,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States alone, resulting in the deaths of at least 54,200 people.
In Canada, where the Toronto Raptors – reigning NBA champions – are based, there have been at least 45,000 confirmed cases and 2,400 deaths.
Republished with permission from insidethegames.biz.