The Cleveland Cavaliers are planning to reopen their training facility for limited individual workouts amid the coronavirus pandemic.
League sources told the New York Times and Cleveland.com that the Cavaliers will make their facility open to players for voluntary workouts starting Friday. According to the outlets, Cavaliers general manager Koby Altman and the team’s medical staff informed players about the plan during a conference call Wednesday.
The Cavaliers will permit individual workouts once the league officially allows facilities to reopen in states such as Ohio, where shelter-in-place restrictions have been loosened. The NBA advised teams last week that it is targeting Friday as the date to allow player workouts at facilities located in cities with softened stay-at-home orders.
Cleveland head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said the team has been in communication with local and Ohio health officials to make sure it’s following safety guidelines.
“The league is recommending that they keep 12 feet between one another, so you’re there basically rebounding for a guy and passing to a guy,” Bickerstaff said. “No one is being pressured to do anything. If people feel uncomfortable doing this, it’s not mandatory for them to show up. We’ve got some guys on staff that are willing to do it.
“We’re fortunate to have the people here that we have as far as the Cleveland Clinic goes and the people who are in charge of our sports science department. They’re doing a great job of making sure we understand the rules first and foremost, then going out and executing it and creating an environment that’s as safe as it possibly can be.”
The franchise’s year-round facility in Independence, Ohio, has been closed since mid-March, when the NBA suspended its season because of the COVID-19 outbreak.
