In a step of progress to the reopening of the season, the NBA is planning on allowing teams in cities in which there is no longer a lockdown, as of May 1, to open their practice facilities for players to stage informal workouts, according to ESPN.
This won’t hold true for the Knicks and Nets, because Gov. Cuomo’s coronavirus lockdown is set to end May 15.
Hence, the Knicks’ Tarrytown facility and the Nets’ practice site in Brooklyn are supposed to be closed under the government’s order.
That could essentially put both clubs at a slight disadvantage — especially the Nets, who are in position to make the playoffs.
On Saturday morning, a Knicks spokesman would not confirm if the Tarrytown facility has been closed.
According to an NBA source, at least a couple of Knicks players would be wary of returning to New York in mid-May — the U.S. epicenter of the COVID-19 virus — if things didn’t improve drastically.
Most of the Knicks are scattered across the country.
Atlanta is one city in which the government has pulled back on a lockdown, leaving the Hawks in position to start informal workouts ahead of a potential brief training camp.
The season was suspended March 11. Multiple sources believe the regular season may be scrapped anyway and just a shortened 16-team playoff would be staged at one site.
Eight days ago, commissioner Adam Silver sounded bleak about the resumption of the season, saying nothing would change until May 1. Silver had banned players from attending their practice facilities in late March.
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