NBA Says 'Age Alone' Will Not Prohibit Coaches from Participating in NBA Restart

Following concern from the NBA Coaches Association about the potential for the league to restrict team staffers from joining their clubs in Florida for the restart of the season, the NBA has clarified that no coaches will be prevented from doing their jobs based on "age alone."

According to ESPN's Tim MacMahon, the NBA gave assurances that age will not be the determining factor in deciding if coaches can accompany their teams, but "individuals at high risk for serious coronavirus complications will not go."

There were some who worried the ages of New Orleans Pelicans head coach Alvin Gentry (65), Houston Rockets head coach Mike D'Antoni (69) and San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich (71) would exclude them from the restart.

Dallas Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle, the president of the NBCA, commented on the news to MacMahon:

"Everybody goes through a screening process, but we've been assured by the league that no one will be red-flagged from going to Orlando based on age alone. That was a very positive thing for us to hear, but as I said, everybody in all 22 markets—all staff, all players, everybody—goes through a significant screening process. We'll see who ends up going, not going, etc. But we were very encouraged to hear that age alone would not be something that would keep you from going to Orlando."

The NBA distributed a 113-page health and safety explainer that stated team staffers are to fill out questionnaires, with doctors selected by teams reviewing the answers. Each staffer must also get a doctor's note approving them to travel to the Orlando area. Teams can designate employees as "higher-risk," which would require specialists to sign off, per ESPN's Zach Lowe and Adrian Wojnarowski.

Even then, the league can flag staffers and refer them to NBA-appointed physicians, who have the final say and would determine if employees face a "direct threat" to their health.

The NBCA was concerned members who were flagged because of their ages would have "severely jeopardized" opportunities "to secure future jobs," via Lowe and Wojnarowski.