After the NBA announced in March that it would suspend its 2020 season due to ongoing coronavirus concerns, ESPN reports that the NBA is reopening team practice facilities as soon as May 1 for players in states and municipalities that are loosening stay-at-home restrictions.
"Teams will be allowed to make facilities open to players on a voluntary basis for individual work, but larger group workouts will still be prohibited," tweeted ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. "In NBA markets that aren't loosening restrictions, league plans to work w/ teams on other arrangements for players."
The news comes after states like Georgia, Alaska and Oklahoma are beginning to re-open amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
"As Georgia moves toward opening certain businesses—including gymasiums—some players were asking their teams if they should consider traveling there to find a way to play. Organizations wants players in safe/clean team environments, not a fitness center in suburban Atlanta," Wojnarowski shared on Twitter.
According to ESPN's report, players can return to team facilities in states such as Georgia "for voluntary individual workouts as soon as next week, which allows for NBA organizations to start allowing players to return to training in a professional, safe environment."
However, Wojnarowski states that NBA's decision to open practice facilities to players in markets where local and state governments may be loosening stay-at-home orders "doesn't mean a resumption of season is imminent."
Ultimately, "the NBA is still unsure on if/when it can play again. But getting players safely into gyms was a priority."