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Report: NBA to open practice facilities in cities where stay-at-home restrictions are loosening

The 76ers practice in Camden, and New Jersey’s stay-at-home order has no specific end date.

Sixer center Joel Embiid and teammates haven't been able to workout at their practice facility in Camden, NJ, since March 19.
Sixer center Joel Embiid and teammates haven't been able to workout at their practice facility in Camden, NJ, since March 19.Read moreMICHAEL BRYANT / Staff Photographer
    by Keith Pompey
    Updated 
    Published 

Could this be the start to some sort of normalcy around the NBA?

The league will allow teams to open their practice facilities to players in cities and states in which the local government has eased stay-at-home orders on Friday, ESPN is reporting. The report said this doesn’t mean it’s imminent that the season will resume. Teams will still be prohibited from organizing team activities and having group workouts.

On April 17, commissioner Adam Silver said he was unsure if teams will play again this season due to the coronavirus pandemic. While Silver won’t give a timeline, there’s a sense that the league could know by June if and how many games will be canceled.

The 76ers practice in Camden, and New Jersey’s stay-at-home order has no specific end date. The Inquirer reported Saturday night the state isn’t close to opening. However, the state’s relax estimate is May 27. New Jersey has been under a stay-at-home order since March 21.

“Public health must come before we can begin to restart our economy,” New Jersey governor Phil Murphy said on Saturday. “We cannot let up, we cannot let a beautiful spring day like this prevent our social distancing. There will be many other spring days to come, and we can enjoy them together. But not now.”

Despite warnings of health experts, several states have either started or announced plans to allow previously shuttered businesses to operate again. Those states are Georgia, Alaska, Colorado, Montana, Minnesota, North Dakota, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, and parts of Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania governor Tom Wolf hopes to re-open the north-central and northwest regions of the state on May 8. Philadelphia is expected to be one of the last regions to re-open due to it being a hot spot.

Globally, there have been around 2,868,600 COVID-19 cases and 201,500 deaths. There have been approximately 956,000 confirmed cases and 53,700 deaths in the United States.

In New Jersey, 3,457 residents tested positive Saturday, bringing the state’s total to 105,523. Of those, 5,863 have died. Hospitalization in South Jersey has been slightly on the rise since April 14.

The new expectation is the NBA might not resume until July, if at all. Silver told TNT on April 7 that the league won’t have enough information to make a decision until May at the earliest. But last week, he said there’s no cutoff date in regards to canceling the season and returning on preparing for the 2020-21 campaign.

The league’s practice facilities have been closed since March 20.