The Boston Celtics still haven’t been able to open their facilities due to Massachusetts regulations, and a few other teams in markets hit hard by the coronavirus are in the same boat.
Meanwhile, players around the country are getting back into their buildings for voluntary workouts, and the NBA is hoping to have teams practicing again in June for games to start by mid-July.
That’s why Boston, among teams like the Brooklyn Nets, New York Knicks and Toronto Raptors, reportedly are hoping to bypass their market cities all together and report right to which ever venue the NBA choses to host its return.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, teams expressed concern during Thursday’s general manager’s call, and the NBA plans to work with them.
“Most teams in regions still adhering to stay-at-home policies amid the coronavirus pandemic have an abundance of players who left the marketplace during the shutdown and would need to quarantine for an extended period — perhaps as many as 14 days — prior to joining workouts in team facilities,” Wojnarowski reported. “Teams want to avoid having to quarantine significant portions of their rosters twice — once upon returning to more restrictive markets, and again, at the bubble site.”
It makes a lot of sense, but the thought of TD Garden and Auerbach Center not opening up for basketball again this spring is pretty sad.
