Report: Some NBA Players Against Returning to Facilities Despite State Clearance

Glenn James/Getty Images

While the NBA is allowing for teams to open their facilities on a limited basis starting Friday, the process could be much more drawn out.

ESPN's Brian Windhorst reported on SportsCenter that some franchises weren't planning just yet to take advantage of the opportunity to get players back.

"Two teams that I talked to this morning that are in states where the stay-at-home orders have been lifted are not intending to open their facilities by Friday," Windhorst said. "A third team that I talked to canvassed its players on a Zoom call last week, and the majority did not want the facility to re-open."

The United States has nearly 1.2 million confirmed cases of the coronavirus, per CNN, and the spread of the disease hasn't slowed to the extent it has in other countries.

Still, some states are beginning to relax restrictions on travel and the mandated closures of selected businesses.

While plenty of steps remain before the NBA can resume the 2019-20 season, rolling back stay-at-home orders would allow for players to start working out together and with their coaches and trainers.

✨ Watch more top videos, highlights, and B/R original content

Even assuming teams welcomed personnel back Friday, the NBA laid out tight restrictions to start out, however. Head coaches and assistant coaches are prohibited from being involved, and no more than four players can train at the facility at one time.

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban wrote in an email to the Dallas Morning News that he wasn't in a rush to have players training together again.

"We listen to health experts, not politicians," Cuban said. "When the NBA provides us with confirmation that it’s safe for our guys to move forward, we will move forward."

Bleacher Report's David Gardner interviews athletes and other sports figures for the podcast How to Survive Without Sports.