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NBA team practice facilities will be allowed to open on Friday, but the Wizards won’t

No, the Washington Wizards won’t be part of that.

By Albert Lee

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NBA Announces Possible Re-Opening Of Team Practice Facilities Starting In May
Some NBA team practice facilities will open tomorrow, but the Wizards’ and Mystics’ facility won’t just yet.
Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

The NBA will allow teams to open practice facilities tomorrow, May 8, in places where local and/or state governments relax “stay-at-home” rules. There are some rules on what is allowed in these facilities, such as a four-player limit, no team practices and players also have to wear facemasks unless they are exercising.

So far, only three teams are expected to open their facilities tomorrow. They are the Denver Nuggets, Portland Trail Blazers and Cleveland Cavaliers. Other teams, including the Los Angeles Lakers, are hoping to open their facility on May 16, according to Shams Charania.

The Washington Wizards will not open their facility in Congress Heights tomorrow, according to Jeff Zillgitt and Mark Medina of USA TODAY, citing D.C.’s stay-at-home orders.

The District’s stay-at-home order will formally expire on May 15, but Mayor Muriel Bowser has not given a plan on how to reopen Washington’s businesses and economy. Therefore, we can expect the order to remain indefinitely, at least until hospitalization rates and coronavirus cases decline for a specified period of time.

If and when the Wizards are allowed to enter their facility again, it remains to be seen whether the Washington Mystics will be allowed to as well since there could be a 2020 WNBA season training camp looming on the horizon. I assume that they will be allowed to have individual workouts, not unlike their NBA counterparts.