It has only been a week since the NBA decided to suspend the 2019-20 season, but the rapid spread of the coronavirus has forced the league office to take several preventative steps to ensure the safety of the players and teams.
The league recently came out with guidelines that allowed NBA players to travel outside of their team’s city but asked them to work out only at their home gym or practice facilities due to social distancing protocol. Players were also expected to check in with their team’s daily during the hiatus.
However, after more cases of coronavirus were discovered around the league, the NBA decided to enact more measures, according to Tim Bontemps of ESPN:
The NBA sent out a memo Thursday afternoon stating that, starting Friday, all 30 NBA teams must close their practice and training facilities to players and staff until further notice, sources told ESPN.
Now, though, players are both not allowed to use team facilities nor, as laid out in a memo sent out by the league Sunday night, work out at any non-team practice or training facilities — essentially leaving players no choice but to attempt to work out at home as they, and the league, try to figure out what the next steps will be.
The rapid spread of the virus has the league scrambling as they try to figure out the best course of action during these trying times and it appears they are serious about limiting any in-person interactions as positive tests continue to mount. Testing has been scarce and hard to come by in the United States, so it is fair to expect those case numbers to rise as results pour in the next few days.
For the Los Angeles Lakers, they now find themselves in the middle of the pandemic as it was reported that two players had tested positive. The Lakers were asked to be tested after it was discovered that four Brooklyn Nets players including Kevin Durant were found to have coronavirus and now it is likely that recent Los Angeles opponents will be asked to be tested as well.
It is a scary time right now as there is still a lot of uncertainty about who may or may not have contracted the virus, so it is best for everyone to remain at home as much as possible and practice good hygiene. While it is unfortunate what is happening in the world, there are still steps people can take to help slow down the spread.
