Celtics’ Danny Ainge Hopeful NBA Will Finish 2019-20 Season, Open Practice Facilities

Danny Ainge shares the same hope of every NBA fan.

The Celtics president of basketball operations joined ESPN’s Zach Lowe’s “The Lowe Podcast” on Thursday to talk all things basketball, including how he hopes Boston’s practice facilities will re-open next week if Massachusetts loosens the stay-at-home restrictions.

“Massachusetts has been one of the slowest in opening things up,” he said, as transcribed by MassLive’s Chris Cotillo. “Our next phase is, we’ll open up our facility. We’re hoping to do it next week. t’s 1-on-1… one coach, one player. Coaches with masks and gloves. Players in the gym, disinfect the gym. I don’t think anybody’s afraid of that. If I said we’re two or three weeks away from playing, I’m sure there would be some players that would have some trepidation. I think everybody’s just really anxious to play right now. That’s what I think.”

Some facilities opened last week with strict guidelines, including how many people can be in the building at once.

Commissioner Adam Silver said Tuesday he wants to have a decision on the 2019-20 season in two-to-four weeks. And Ainge hopes the games the C’s already have played don’t go to waste.

“These are the times that we play for,” Ainge said. “It’s almost like we just played 60 games and it doesn’t mean anything. I think that I would like to finish the season. I think most of the players, if not all the players, would like to finish the season and move on to next year.”

Silver’s decision really can’t come soon enough.

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