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Report: NBA Likely to Allow Teams to Bring 35 Players, Coaches, Staff in Restart
May 22, 2020
NBA teams will reportedly be limited in the number of people they can bring to centralized "campus" locations if and when the season resumes amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Marc Stein of the New York Times reported the news, noting teams have been told they can bring approximately 35 players, coaches and staff. By comparison, teams typically travel with more than 50 people for road games.
This comes after Adrian Wojnarowski and Zach Lowe of ESPN reported on Wednesday that "NBA teams are expecting the league office will issue guidelines around June 1 that will allow franchises to start recalling players who've left their markets as a first step toward a formal ramp-up for the season's resumption."
From there, the expectation would be a transition from the current individual workouts that are happening now with a number of restrictions to more team-oriented ones before official plans are put in place by June for an eventual return, perhaps as soon as July.
According to Wojnarowski and Lowe, the league is looking into a two-site format, with Las Vegas and Orlando, Florida, as the centralized spots.
The season has been suspended since March 11, and there remains a number of issues to work out as the league shifts toward what appears to be a more likely return. One of those issues is whether teams will finish the regular season, jump straight into the playoffs or participate in something resembling a play-in tournament for teams near the bottom of the playoff picture.
The Milwaukee Bucks have the best record in the league at 53-12, while the Los Angeles Lakers have the best record in the Western Conference at 49-14.