NBA Pushes Back Opening Facilities After Atlanta Hawks Say No

Atlanta GA

27 April, 2020

4:16 PM

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ATLANTA, GA — After the Atlanta Hawks said the organization was unwilling to immediately reopen the franchise's practice facility to players for workouts, the National Basketball Association sent a memo to teams Monday informing them facilities will not begin reopening until May 8, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. The league previously planned to reopen facilities Friday beginning with the Hawks, because of Georgia's early loosening of stay-at-home orders amid the new coronavirus crisis. Gov. Brian Kemp has allowed restaurants to again provide in-house dining with social distancing measures in place. "We are going to wait and see what happens in the state over the couple of weeks," Hawks general manager Travis Schlenk told ESPN. "If there's a positive response, we'll slowly open up. If it's a negative response, we'll make sure our staff and players remain healthy." Kemp allowed certain businesses to reopen Friday, including gyms, bowling alleys, tattoo shops, and nail and hair salons. Restaurants and some others were allowed to reopen Monday. According to ESPN, the following restrictions would apply to the usage of the Hawks' facility. No more than four players would be permitted at a facility at any one time.No head or assistant coaches could participate.Players would still be prohibited from using non-team facilities.The NBA season has been suspended since March 11. This is a developing story, please check back in for updates.