The Los Angeles Lakers are setting their sights on May 16th as a tentative date to reopen their practice facility, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania.
Several NBA teams will be allowed to open their facilities on Friday so long as their states or regions are not under stay-at-home orders. California has not yet lifted those restrictions, meaning the Lakers, as well as the Clippers, Kings and Warriors will not be allowed to open their facilities just yet. All four California NBA teams have reportedly lobbied Governor Gavin Newsom and public health officials to allow for the reopening of their practice facilities. The governor announced earlier this week that the state would ease into opening some businesses up soon.
Despite practice facilities opening for about half of the teams in the NBA, that does not mean teams will resume practices. The NBA is putting severe restrictions, according to reports, including not allowing group workouts and only letting a select number of players and staff to be present at any given time with proper social distancing protocol.
The NBA seems intent on resuming their season at some point with reports of potentially playing out the season in one city or area such as Walt Disney World in Florida. However, the league also seems conscious of the dangers of rushing back too quickly and acknowledging their place within society at large. The league has, for example, asked teams not to test players for Coronavirus unless they exhibit symptoms, allowing more at-risk people access to those limited tests.
