Account
Lakers Reportedly Reopening Practice Facility May 16 Amid COVID-19 Pandemic
May 15, 2020
The Los Angeles Lakers are reportedly set to reopen their practice facility Saturday after receiving clearance from L.A. County government and health officials.
Stadium and The Athletic's Shams Charania reported the update Friday:
The NBA started allowing teams to utilize their facilities May 8, though there's no plan in place to resume the 2019-20 season, which was halted March 11 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
In a conference call with players last Friday, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver reportedly said the league was trying to develop a plan, likely one featuring games being held in one or two cities, to safely finish the season without fans in attendance, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
"There's no point in adding risk for flying all of you city to city if there's not going to be fans," Silver said. "We think it would be safer to be in a single location, or two locations, to start."
He told players, "This could turn out to be the single greatest challenge of all our lives."
Speaking with the league's board of governors on Tuesday, Silver reportedly said he wants to make a final decision about whether to resume or cancel the season within the next month, according to Charania.
Lakers superstar LeBron James took a stand against the idea of wiping out the remainder of the campaign in April:
James, Anthony Davis and Co. owned the best record in the Western Conference (49-14) when play was suspended.
The Lakers, along with the Milwaukee Bucks (53-12) and rival Los Angeles Clippers (44-20), will be the NBA's chief title contenders if play does resume.
Bleacher Report's David Gardner interviews athletes and other sports figures for the podcast How to Survive Without Sports.