If NBA allows, Heat now targeting Monday to begin player workouts at AmericanAirlines Arena
The NBA is targeting Friday as a potential date to reopen team practice facilities in cities and states where local governments have loosened stay-at-home orders amid the COVID-19 pandemic. But the Miami Heat does not plan to allow players to start working out at AmericanAirlines Arena until Monday at the earliest, a league source confirmed to the Miami Herald.
NBA practice facilities will only be allowed to reopen if permitted by orders from local government. Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez said Friday during an interview with South Florida radio personality Andy Slater that the Heat will be allowed to hold workouts at its downtown Miami arena if the NBA reopens practice facilities Friday.
The Heat is still finalizing details for its plan to reopen the arena to players with hopes of starting to allow use of the practice facility on Monday, as the NBA has strict guidelines teams must follow. Among the restrictions the league has put instituted ...
▪ No more than four players would be permitted at a facility at any one time.
▪ No head coach or assistant coaches could participate.
▪ Group activity remains prohibited, including practices or scrimmages.
▪ Players remain prohibited from using non-team facilities such as public health clubs, fitness centers, or gyms.
In addition when facilities reopen, players will have to wear face masks except when they are working out, and staff members will have to wear face masks and gloves at all times. The new normal, at least in the beginning, will be to social distance at least 12 feet apart at all times.
While the NBA might allow practice facilities to reopen on Friday, it’s still unknown whether the remainder of the 2019-20 NBA season will be played. The league announced that the NBA Draft Lottery and NBA Draft Combine have been postponed, with both events previously scheduled for later this month in Chicago.
The Heat has not asked forwards Jimmy Butler and Andre Iguodala to return to Miami yet, as both players have spent most of the league shutdown in their California homes. But the expectation is Butler and Iguodala will be encouraged to return to South Florida soon when facilities begin reopening.
The current NBA season was suspended on March 11, and all NBA facilities have been closed to players and staff since March 20.
This story was originally published May 5, 2020 at 4:00 PM.
