Knicks open practice facility for voluntary workouts with strict safety guidelines
Knicks center Mitchell Robinson reaches for a throw during training camp practice at MSG Training Center on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2019. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
While the NBA still decides who eventually will play in a resumption of the suspended season, the Knicks announced Friday that their practice facility in Greenburgh, N.Y., was opened for players.
"The Knicks re-opened the MSG Training Center today for voluntary player workouts,” the team said in a statement. “As the safety of our players and staff remains our priority, we will continue to follow the guidelines established by the State of New York and the NBA.”
Those guidelines provide a very strict set of safety measures and the Knicks will abide by those, having just one player on the court at a time, with locker rooms and other services closed. The Knicks have only two players in New York - Taj Gibson, who has remained in town throughout the shutdown, and Mitchell Robinson, who arrived Thursday.
Teams are still unlikely to conduct group workouts until arriving in the location - most likely Orlando - where play would resume.
With the Knicks and Boston Celtics announcing Friday the openings of their practice sites for voluntary workouts there are now only four teams - San Antonio, Detroit, Golden State and Washington - who have not opened yet. While the Knicks, Detroit and Golden State would be out of any of the playoff scenarios other than all 30 teams, San Antonio and Washington could slip in if 22 teams are taken into a play-in setup.
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
