Find out the latest on COVID-19's impact on the sports world and when sports are returning by subscribing to Breaking News push notifications in the Sports and COVID-19 section.
Some NBA players have arranged access to practice in unauthorized locations amid the league's ban on using team facilities and public spaces, an unnamed Western Conference player told The New York Times' Marc Stein and Scott Cacciola.
The NBA ordered teams to close their practice facilities in mid-March in an effort to reduce the spread of the coronavirus and protect the health and safety of both players and staff. Players were also indefinitely barred from using other options such as public courts and fitness clubs, regardless of whether they had access to hoops or workout equipment.
"Whoever thought times would get like this where you can't even have access to a basket or a gym?" Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler told Stein and Cacciola. "Nobody thought it would come to this. But it has."
The league announced last week that it was tentatively targeting May 8 for the re-opening of select team facilities - but only in jurisdictions where stay-at-home orders have been eased. It also stated that players would have to adhere to strict rules - such as limiting gym access to four players at a time and abstaining from group workouts - while using team facilities.
