- The Clippers, too, have been holding safe private workouts and on-court practices involving a limited number of players, per Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium in the same video conversation (Twitter link). The identity of the Clippers players participating was not disclosed.
- Jovan Buha of The Athletic identifies some frontcourt free agents the Clippers could target during the offseason if they lose some combination of Montrezl Harrell, Marcus Morris, and JaMychal Green.
- In an interview this week with TNT’s Ernie Johnson, Clippers head coach Doc Rivers shared his side of a story J.J. Redick has told before, describing how the club’s deal with Redick in 2013 was nearly scuttled due to then-owner Donald Sterling‘s apparent aversion to white players. Kurt Helin of NBC Sports has the story, with Rivers’ comments.
- The Clippers’ workout plan during the stoppage of play should have them well-prepared whenever practices and games resume, as Jovan Buha of The Athletic details. The Clippers held weekly group workouts over Zoom as well as chats with famous athletes, along with creating personalized home workout rooms for each player. The organization ordered equipment to ensure each player could work out from home via video calls with individualized player-coaches and strength trainers.
The Clippers are among the teams reopening their practice facilities on Monday, as first reported by Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times. The Pelicans, reported last week to be targeting May 18 as their reopening date, are also moving forward with that plan, as Christian Clark of The New Orleans Times-Picayune writes.
As has been the case for teams around the league, the Clippers and Pelicans will face strict regulations from the NBA as players return to their facilities for voluntary individual workouts. No more than four players can be in the building at a time, and their workouts are limited to one hour. They also have to undergo temperature checks before entering the facility and wear masks when they’re not engaged in physical activity.
More than half of the NBA’s teams are now known to have reopened their respective facilities. We count 16 clubs so far, though it’s possible that number is even higher if some teams have reopened their buildings without publicizing it.
The Bucks, Cavaliers, Grizzlies, Hawks, Heat, Jazz, Kings, Lakers, Magic, Nuggets, Pacers, Raptors, Rockets, and Trail Blazers have also reopened their practice facilities.
[UPDATE: The Thunder have reopened their practice facility as well.]
- The Clippers would be better off trying to re-sign Marcus Morris and Reggie Jackson rather than giving big money to unrestricted free agent Montrezl Harrell, Jovan Buha of The Athletic opines. Harrell’s role won’t expand in the future the way the current roster is constructed. The lack of other two-way wings in the 2020 free agent class makes Morris more valuable, while Jackson could get more playing time in Los Angeles going forward after an impressive stretch before the stoppage of play.
We can add the Grizzlies to the list of NBA teams that have reopened their practice facilities for voluntary individual workouts, per a report from Chris Herrington of The Daily Memphian.
According to Herrington, the team didn’t immediately reopen its facility last Friday when the NBA loosened its restrictions, but did so at some point this week. Herrington’s source declined to say which players – or how many of them – have used the facility so far.
The NBA is permitting teams to open their facilities for players as long as those teams receive the go-ahead from local governments and health authorities. No more than four players are permitted in a facility at a time, and players can’t shoot on the same basket. They’re also required to have their temperatures checked before entering the building and must wear a mask when they’re not engaged in physical activity.
Coming into Friday, we knew of 11 teams that had reopened their facilities. We’ve added the Grizzlies and Lakers to that list today — the Lakers’ facility is expected to be opened tomorrow. However, the Clippers will not be reopening on Saturday, ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk tweets.
Reports have indicated that the NBA believes more than two-thirds of its teams will be able to reopen their buildings by Monday.
- The Clippers won’t allow assistant Armond Hill to coach when the team reopens its practice facility, according to The Athletic’s David Aldridge. Hill is the team’s oldest coach at 67 and head coach Doc Rivers doesn’t want to put him at immediate risk. “He wants to go work,” Rivers said. “And I said, ‘Well, I understand that. But we’re not going to let you do it. We just can’t. I can’t live with that.’”
After previously being advised by the NBA not to test asymptomatic players for COVID-19, teams have now been informed by the league that they’ll be permitted to administer those tests — as long as they’re in areas where testing is readily available to at-risk health care workers, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
The Magic, for instance, have been granted written authorization from the Orange County Department of Health – as well as approval from the NBA – to test their players and staffers for the coronavirus, whether or not they’re exhibiting symptoms, a spokesperson confirmed. A Magic official told Josh Robbins of The Athletic (Twitter link) today that May 12 is the most likely target date for the team to reopen its practice facility.
“We have been assured we are not taking any tests from healthcare workers, first responders, or anyone whether they are experiencing symptoms or asymptomatic,” the Magic told Woj in a statement (Twitter link). “As we’ve been told, the general public in our community can go to numerous locations to receive a coronavirus test.”
The Lakers and Clippers are among the other clubs that are expected to receive permission soon from the NBA and local health authorities to conduct coronavirus tests on players entering their facilities, according to Wojnarowski.
Although the NBA is allowing teams to reopen their practice facilities, the league has been reluctant to ramp up testing for its players and staffers yet. When the NBA suspended its season in March, multiple teams were able to conduct immediate tests on dozens of asymptomatic players and staffers, drawing criticism from politicians who were dealing with local shortages.
The NBA doesn’t want to create the impression that the league is receiving preferential treatment, which is why any teams in municipalities with testing shortages still won’t be permitted to test asymptomatic players for now.
However, if an increasing number of teams get the go-ahead to move forward with testing asymptomatic individuals, that will represent a crucial step forward for the NBA. If the league wants to resume its 2019/20 season, it will need access to thousands – and potentially tens of thousands – of tests to regularly administer them to players, staffers, and other officials.
As long as those tests still aren’t readily available for asymptomatic people in many areas of the country, it would be a bad look for the NBA to procure them in massive quantities. But if and when shortages are no longer a concern, that would no longer be a roadblock for a potential return to play.
- Following the completion of the sale of The Forum to a group led by Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, a lengthy legal battle over the team’s plan to build an arena in Inglewood has come to an end, writes Nathan Fenno of The Los Angeles Times. The Madison Square Garden Co., the former owner of The Forum, had filed or backed several lawsuits opposing the arena proposal, but paperwork was filed this week to dismiss those suits as part of the sale agreement, clearing the way for the Clippers to move forward with their Inglewood plans.
The Clippers issued a press release today announcing that CAPSS LLC – a recently-formed company backed by team owner Steve Ballmer – has completed its purchase of The Forum in Inglewood, California. The venue was previously owned by the Madison Square Garden Company.
The sale agreement was initially reported in March, when the two sides reached a deal for Ballmer’s group to buy The Forum for $400MM in cash. MSG Co. – controlled by Knicks owner James Dolan – had previously been engaged in a legal battle with Ballmer and the Clippers, who are trying to build a new arena in Inglewood.
The sale of The Forum will help end that litigation, paving the way for the Clippers to move forward on their new building. The Forum, meanwhile, will continue to operate as a live entertainment venue. The Forum’s existing leadership team of Geni Lincoln and Mike Fallon will now report to Gillian Zucker, the Clippers’ president of business operations, according to today’s announcement.
“The talented team at The Forum has created a world-class live entertainment venue, and we are committed to building upon that reputation,” Zucker said in a statement. “Having The Forum just a short distance from the L.A. Clippers’ new arena will give us the opportunity to provide the City of Inglewood with a number of benefits, including a collaborative approach to managing traffic and community activities.”
The Clippers are locked into their Staples Center lease through 2024, but Ballmer has long prioritized the idea of the team moving into a building of its own. The franchise will now be able to move forward on plans to build a state-of-the-art, 18,000-seat arena in Inglewood.
Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN reported in March that the Clippers’ proposal was undergoing an environmental review by Inglewood, with public hearings to approve the project expected to be held in the summer. It’s not clear whether the coronavirus pandemic has changed that timeline at all.