MIAMI _ For forward Udonis Haslem, the decision to enter the Miami Heat's practice facility for a Wednesday afternoon workout was a fairly easy one.
The Heat began allowing players Wednesday to participate in voluntary individual workouts at the team's AmericanAirlines Arena practice facility under strict NBA guidelines. Haslem, who has served as a Heat captain in 13 consecutive seasons, was among those who took advantage on the first day the downtown Miami facility was open to players since NBA facilities were ordered closed to players and staff on March 20 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
"From a leadership standpoint," Haslem said Wednesday after handing out groceries to families who have recently lost their jobs because of the economic fallout from COVID-19, "the fact that we're opening up and we have an opportunity to kind of get our feet wet a little bit in the process, I have to take advantage of it and show these young guys the next step and the new phase of how we're going to be doing things and what we need to do to stay safe and stay protected, but also be able to get a little work in. It allows me to be on the frontline as a leader in showing those guys how it's going to be done during the next step and next phase."
The league began permitting teams to open practice facilities for workouts on Friday as allowed per local orders. For now, the Heat plans to limit workouts at its AmericanAirlines Arena practice facility to three days per week.
The Heat said it will not disclose the identity or number of players participating since the workouts are voluntary. NBA commissioner Adam Silver reportedly said on a conference call with players last week that he would look into any team pressuring players to participate.
But along with Haslem, Jae Crowder, Goran Dragic and Kelly Olynyk were among those who planned to work out at the Heat's practice facility Wednesday, according to league sources. The reopening was expected to draw most of the roster to AmericanAirlines Arena on the first day, with ESPN's Ramona Shelburne reporting that 12 Heat players went in for workouts Wednesday.
Fourteen of the Heat's 17 players under contract are in South Florida and available to participate, which includes the team's two two-way contract players Kyle Alexander and Gabe Vincent.
The only three Heat players who have quarantined outside of South Florida _ Jimmy Butler, Andre Iguodala and Solomon Hill _ did not return to Miami for the start of arena workouts as they wait to learn more about the NBA's plan for the remainder of the season. Butler, Iguodala and Hill are all in California.
For Haslem, the workout started well, but he felt the effects of the time off toward the end of the session.
"I felt great at the beginning," Haslem said in a video released by the Heat on Wednesday afternoon. "I started off making all my shots, everything felt good. Like riding a bike. Toward the end, my legs got a little fatigued. My wind was good. Just definitely the legs being fatigued. No matter how hard you work out or what you do, you can never simulate game legs and getting up shots and repetition.
"It's not every day that we take this much time off. I've never went this long without playing the game of basketball in my life. Not having shot the ball for a long period of time, haven't competed on the court for a long period of time."
The reopening of the AmericanAirlines Arena practice facility comes with new rules the Heat must follow. Here are the strict guidelines the NBA has implemented for all teams in hopes of preventing the spread of COVID-19 ...
_ No more than four players are permitted at a facility at any one time. Heat players have to schedule workouts to make sure they all don't show up at once.
_ Group activity remains prohibited, including practices or scrimmages. One player is allowed at each basket and each player also has his own sanitized ball.
_ A total of six assistant coaches/player development personnel will be allowed to supervise workouts, but no more than four at one time. Head coaches are not allowed to be at workouts.
_ The practice facility is the only arena space players are permitted to work out at. Areas such as the weight room and locker room remain closed, which means players have to arrive for workouts with their own gear and have to leave the arena without showering.
_ Players have to wear face masks inside the facility except when working out. And any staff members present have to wear face masks and gloves.
_ Staff present, except for medical and athletic training personnel, must stay at least 12 feet from players.
_ Players and staff entering and exiting the arena will be subject to temperature checks.
_ Players remain prohibited from using non-team facilities such as public health clubs, fitness centers or gyms.
In addition, NBA teams have to designate a staff member as a "facility hygiene officer" to oversee these new policies. For the Heat, longtime athletic trainer Jay Sabol has been given that title.
"It's going to be a learning process," Haslem said of using the practice facility under these restrictions. "We talked about it, we Zoom called about it (as a team). But it's going to be a work in progress, man. It's going to be a work in progress and we're going to take it one day at a time. We're going to be safe ... and we're going to move accordingly.
"We listened to the doctors, the medical staff and everybody about the precautions that we need to take. As a team collectively, we got to commit to an oath because we all have to protect each other in this process."
It's unknown how many Heat players will consistently use the practice facility for workouts once it opens under such strict restrictions. But the thinking is, especially with a number of players living in condominiums, the opening of the arena practice facility provides a controlled and monitored environment for basketball workouts to those who are interested.
The Heat officially received local clearance to open the AmericanAirlines Arena practice facility with an amendment to Miami-Dade County Emergency Order 15-20 that allows "the use of facilities owned or leased by a professional sports franchise, solely by employees of such franchise for training purposes."
During a Wednesday morning radio appearance on The Joe Rose Show, Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez said: "The Heat submitted a plan of how they're going to do these individual workouts with individual basketballs, towels, drinks and everything, and how they're going to segregate them. They're not going to use any of the gym equipment, they're not going to go in the weight room. Those things are not going to be used. They're basically going to go in, do their workout by themselves and I guess with some staff. Everybody is going to maintain at least 12 feet apart. They're going to wear a mask until they're actually working. So that's fine.
"You can control that a heck of a lot better because you're talking 12 to 15 people versus hundreds and hundreds when they're playing basketball. But they're not going to do any contact stuff. They're going to do individual workouts, that's all. So they submitted that plan and it seemed fine and it seemed safe."
While practice facilities are starting to open around the NBA for individual workouts, it's still unknown whether the remainder of the 2019-20 season will be played. In last week's conference call with players, Silver reportedly told players that a decision on whether to complete the 2019-20 season could come as late as June.
But things seem to be trending toward a restart of the season, with play suspended since the night of March 11. ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported that participants on a Board of Governors call with Silver on Tuesday left the discussion "increasingly positive about the league's momentum toward a resumption of play this season," and Silver reportedly said on the call that he's hoping to make a decision about whether to resume play within the next two-to-four weeks.
For Haslem, though, just getting an opportunity to work out at the same time and in the same facility as a few of his Heat teammates was enough Wednesday.
"It felt good to have a couple guys around," Haslem said in the video released by the Heat. "Obviously, me being a leader that I am, but I'm a guy that's always going to be a little funny, throw a couple jabs and shoot it up a little bit. I was talking crap and getting the competitive juices flowing from the three-point line. Just getting guys going, having guys smile. It has been so long since we've had the opportunity to smile collectively like that, even if it was just a small group."
