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NBA Commissioner Adam Silver held a conference call with the National Basketball Players Association and NBA players this afternoon, addressing league-wide concerns over COVID-19. We’ll have the rest of the items in a separate post. For now, one of the most interesting revelations was that the NBPA is concerned that some players are feeling pressure to return to team-supervised individual workouts even though participation is supposed to be voluntary.
Some players told Silver that they were feeling pressure from organizations to return to volunteer workouts at facilities, and Silver said he'd address it with teams, sources said. https://t.co/bwrOWwwR2z
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) May 8, 2020
Yahoo Sources: Chris Paul expressed concern on behalf of players that some teams could be pressuring players to work out at the facility. Adam Silver reiterated that it’s optional and advised Paul to follow up with the league if it continues.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) May 8, 2020
The Portland Trail Blazers and Cleveland Cavaliers are the only organizations that have opened individual workouts officially. The Toronto Raptors, Denver Nuggets, Miami Heat, Sacramento Kings, and Utah Jazz are rumored to be opening within the next week, or at least considering the move. The Dallas Mavericks and Houston Rockets have stated that they will delay opening.
Individual workouts are considered an initial step on the road back to competition. It’s significant that even the first, easiest matters carry controversy. The fragile nature of negotiations, and the solutions that flow from them, have been highlighted by multiple media members over the past few weeks.
Stay tuned for more on the league’s call with its players.