As NBA teams move to reopen their practice facilities beginning Friday, Mark Cuban has stated some of his concerns. As reported by ESPN’s Tim MacMahon, Cuban believes the NBA’s lack of testing guidelines for asymptomatic players is jeopardizing the safety of the players, stating “I just don’t think the risk is worth the reward.”
Mark Cuban told @bdameris and @MFollowill on their podcast that the inability to test for coronavirus is the reason the Mavs have no immediate plans to open their practice facility. pic.twitter.com/1w7l5TeUWj
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) May 7, 2020
ESPN Senior NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski reports that Cuban is not alone in his safety concerns, while also reporting new guidelines set forth by the league regarding potential safety measures. These guidelines include designating assistant coaches to observe workouts as head coaches will not be allowed to attend.
Mark Cuban's concerns on the inability for a team to test asymptomatic players entering the gym for these volunteer workouts is shared by other franchises. "I just don't think the risk is worth the reward," Cuban said. https://t.co/4bZek3POM3
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) May 7, 2020
Head coaches will not be allowed to participate or observe the player workouts, per sources. https://t.co/6gv87tl6G4
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) May 7, 2020
Having suspended the remainder of their season due to the coronavirus on March 11th, the NBA is headed toward its second month of stalled operation. A timeline for reopening the NBA for potential games is still quite a while away, with the majority of NBA teams currently under some form of stay-at-home orders.
