A 25-day training camp-style program among NBA's ideas to get players ready for return
In this Feb. 16, 2019, file photo, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver speaks during the NBA All-Star festivities in Charlotte, N.C. Credit: AP/Gerry Broome
A little more than a week after the NBA shut down play on March 12, the league ordered teams to shut down their training facilities to players, who up to that point had been allowed to work out at the team sites.
And that might be just as important as any decisions about when or if the league might be able to resume games.
When the NBA ordered teams to shut down their facilities and instructed players, for the sake of self-isolation, not to use any other gyms and training centers outside of their own homes, it put the players in an offseason mode. So to start up again, it will take more than a stroke of a pen.
ESPN reported that team executives and medical personnel have been discussing protocols to get players ready for a return to action, including a 25-day program that would serve as a training camp to get players in game shape.
The plan was described as an 11-day period in which players would work to regain conditioning before a two-week training camp.
While one NBA official cautioned that these ideas are just being tossed around and that there is no specific plan ready to be implemented, it is certain that there is a risk to getting players ready for action after a shutdown like this.
In the offseason, many players have taken it upon themselves to add to their workouts by gathering for pickup games — sometimes with coaches watching but mostly just to keep their bodies acclimated to game speed.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver said last week that a decision on whether this season can be resumed will not be made before May 1.
Bulls fire GM Forman. The Chicago Bulls fired general manager Gar Forman on Monday, officially hired Denver Nuggets GM Arturas Karnisovas as their executive vice president of basketball operations and moved John Paxson into an advisory role. The Bulls handed the keys to the 48-year-old Karnisovas last week, hoping he can spark a struggling franchise.
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.
