The Hawks will not open their practice facility Friday, according to general manager Travis Schlenk, but are looking at next week as a potential timetable.
On April 27, the NBA informed teams it was targeting a date no earlier than May 8 to allow limited, individual workouts in cities where restrictions and stay-at-home orders have eased, and it plans to modify its guidance regarding practice facilities “to allow for safe and controlled environments for players to train in states that allow them to do so, and to create a process for identifying safe training options for players located in other states.”
Georgia would fall into that category. As of April 30, Gov. Brian Kemp lifted a shelter-in-place order for most of the state’s residents, although restrictions for the elderly, the medically fragile, nursing homes and certain businesses were extended.
The Hawks decided to close their practice facility March 18, one week after the season was suspended because of the coronavirus.
MLS teams, including Atlanta United, are now permitted to train individually at practice facilities, the league announced Friday (the workouts are voluntary and teams have to meet certain guidelines). They previously had not been allowed to train in groups since March 12.
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