The NBA had planned to allow players to reenter team facilities for voluntary workouts on May 1. That plan, however, has been pushed back by a week until May 8.
The reopening, of course, will come with caveats. No more than four players will be allowed at the facility at one time, and no coaching or group activities, such as scrimmages or practices, will be allowed. Other precautions could also be implemented.
“I think they’re working out the logistics on how they’re going to open up practice facilities,” Nuggets forward Paul Millsap told JR SportBrief. “I think we’re still waiting on how we’re going to do that. I’m sure there’s going to be stipulations and rules and probably how many people are allowed in the gym at that time. But after that, we’ll still continue to sit back and wait and see [if] this virus is going to settle down and calm down and how we’re going to continue to try to resume play.”
The Denver Nuggets were 43-22 – third in the Western Conference – when the NBA suspended its season. They trail the Los Angeles Clippers (44-20) by 1.5 games for the 2-seed.
“I still feel pretty good about it,” Millsap said of the NBA resuming its season. “I think we’re going to play, and when we do, I think our team has a really good chance. Seeing as how we’ve been together the longest, our chemistry shouldn’t take long for us to get back [and] gel together.”
“Dennis Rodman was a specialist, and there’s not a lot of specialists in our game today,” Millsap said. “There’s a lot of well-rounded guys, not just specialists. He was a specialist at rebounding and I think he played the role of being that and being the intimidator. Every winning team has a guy like that who’s willing to do the dirty work and intimidate and pretty much throw his body out on the line and sacrifice for the team.”