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Mavericks Plan to Open Practice Facility for Limited Player Workouts on Thursday
May 27, 2020
The Dallas Mavericks are opening their practice facility starting Thursday for limited workouts.
Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle discussed the situation in a conference call with reporters, per the Dallas Morning News' Callie Caplan:
"One of the things we went over in the Zoom call today were the procedures for going in and out of the facility and procedures from going workout to workout, and there's a lot of detail involved. Mark Cuban has been very vigilant on the fact that we cannot be in a rush to reopen unless the timing is right.
"So we probably are [one of the last facilities] to reopen, but I'm actually proud of that fact because I think it's been the right decision, and I also know our players have been doing a great job on their own of staying in shape and taking care of themselves, so we have a high level of trust with our players."
The NBA allowed teams to bring players back for workouts starting May 8, with restrictions in place as to how players could train and how many could be in the facility at once.
The rollout hasn't been uniform across the league, however. States have adopted different approaches toward relaxing stay-at-home guidelines, and individual franchises ultimately had discretion as to how they'd utilize the opportunity.
Cuban, for example, indicated early on he wanted to remain cautious when it came to welcoming Mavs players back despite Texas Gov. Greg Abbott allowing some businesses to open at the start of May:
Before too long, the Mavericks may be heading east to Orlando, Florida.
NBA spokesperson Mike Bass confirmed the league is discussing a plan to stage games at Walt Disney Resort, and momentum is building toward a return. As the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference, Dallas is all but guaranteed to be involved, regardless of what format the regular season or postseason takes.