Report: Lakers, LA Mayor's Office Discuss Opening Facility Early for Players

The Los Angeles Lakers have reportedly reached out to the Los Angeles mayor's office to discuss opening their training facility before the city's "stay at home" order ends May 15.

ESPN's Dave McMenamin reported Tuesday the discussion came after the NBA announced it will allow teams to begin conducting voluntary workouts May 8 to begin preparations for the potential resumption of the 2019-20 season, which is currently delayed by the coronavirus pandemic.

The Lakers also held a conference call Monday led by general manager Rob Pelinka and head coach Frank Vogel to provide a basic "protocol" once players are cleared to return to team facilities, per McMenamin:

"Some of the Lakers' planned precautionary measures include players having their temperatures taken while they are in their cars when they arrive at the facility and answering questions to a designated medical professional before being granted access to the building.

"The Lakers' plan currently does not call for further testing for the coronavirus arranged by the team for players, sources told ESPN."

If the Lakers are given clearance, the initial practices would be based on "individualized skill work and conditioning" with no contact involved, per McMenamin.

The NBA announced there would be rules in place if facilities are opened May 8:

• No more than four players would be permitted at a facility at any one time.
• No head or assistant coaches could participate.
• Group activity remains prohibited, including practices or scrimmages.
• Players remain prohibited from using non-team facilities such as public health clubs, fitness centers or gyms.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver said on a conference call April 17 teams want to resume the season if possible, but there's not yet enough information to provide a concrete path forward.

"Everything is on the table," Silver told reporters. "The direction that the league office has received from our teams is that all rules are off at this point. If there is an opportunity to resume play, even if it looks different from what we've done historically, we should be modeling it."

He added: "It frustrates me that I'm not able to say, 'If we do A, B and C, therefore we can jump the ball.' As I've said, we don't have enough information to do that."

The Lakers, led by LeBron James and Anthony Davis, owned the best record in the Western Conference at 49-14 when the regular season was halted.