MIAMI _ The Miami Heat soon could be sheltering at home court.
With some states and municipalities easing quarantine and sheltering-at-home restrictions amid the new coronavirus pandemic, the NBA has decided, in certain circumstances, to re-open team training facilities to players starting Friday.
The move, limited to individual workouts, came in response to states with NBA teams, including Georgia and Oklahoma, loosening restrictions on gym access.
The Heat closed their facilities the third week of March per an NBA mandate, with commissioner Adam Silver still uncertain about a potential resumption of the season.
Heat players since have been working out at home, with the Heat holding group workouts via video conferencing.
The eased restrictions still are based on local mandates, which could complicate matters for the Heat, with more than half of the state's positive coronavirus tests coming in South Florida. But Miami-Dade also has moved toward allowing social-distanced recreation.
Miami-Dade this week plans to ease restrictions at parks, allowing the use of facilities with no more than three participants sharing a rim, solely for shooting, each with their own ball, and pickup games prohibited.
The NBA's move would reduce temptation for players to shoot at such parks or travel to states where gyms are re-opening. Heat guard Tyler Herro said last week he had shot at a public park after the NBA's March 11 shutdown until that park closed. Heat forward Jimmy Butler recently shipped baskets to teammates, but utilization is not an option for those who live in condo buildings.
Heat president Pat Riley, in an in-house video for a team social-media production, said last week that the team would follow league and municipal guidance. The revised league guidance came out this weekend.
"We're waiting for probably the most challenging decision that Adam Silver, the commissioner, and his staff, not only in our sport, but in every other sport (face)," Riley said in the video shot at his Miami home. "But he is being very, very cautious. I think that's great. And he's going to rely on the science.
"I think we have to rely on the science, because this will be an unprecedented move when he decides to start this thing back up."
While social distancing and other precautions largely remain in place in Florida, the state did issue an update earlier this month to its list of allowable "essential services" in regards to professional sports.
While largely viewed as an allowance for ongoing taping of WWE wrestling shows in Orlando on a closed stage, the order offered an allowance for, "Employees at a professional sports and media production with a national audience _ including any athletes, entertainers, production team, executive team, media team, and any others necessary to facilitate including services supporting such production _ only if the location is closed to the general public."
Gov. Ron DeSantis, speaking Saturday in Weston, said, "We're not doing in-person sports yet, no matter what. That's just not going to happen in May."
He added, "I'm not in a rush to do anything; I'd rather do it right. We're in unchartered waters here."
The Heat's private practice court is located at AmericanAirlines Arena alongside Biscayne Bay, a facility not open to spectators. Players typically have 24/7 access through a fingerprint scanner.
While the Heat have stressed social distancing with their employees, center Meyers Leonard said that Heat director of rehabilitation Brandon Gilliam has visited his Miami Beach home to treat his ankle sprain, with other Heat employees having visited with players to provide supplies.
The NBA's allowance for workouts at team facilities, where allowed, according to ESPN, would be voluntary and be limited to individual sessions only, with group practices not allowed, nor organized team workouts.
Several municipalities continue to ban such sessions at team facilities, including the hard-hit New York City metropolitan area.
Most Heat players are in South Florida, although Butler and Andre Iguodala relocated to their California homes amid the NBA shutdown, which began for the Heat after their March 11 loss to the Charlotte Hornets at AmericanAirlines Arena.
It is not uncommon during offseasons for teams to allow players from other teams to utilize their facilities, a practice the Heat have allowed. Many NBA players from other teams have made South Florida a training base.
Riley praised the work of his staff in the interim, noting the efforts of coach Erik Spoelstra, strength coach Eric Foran and trainer Jay Sabol.
"We simply started to develop a strategy to stay connected with our players, to engage our players and send out memos to them," Riley said. "And I think coach Spo and Eric Foran and that whole staff downstairs, Jay Sabol and his group, have done an incredible job of conditioning our players with Zoom videos, four or five days a week, sending out letters, sending out motivational statements, Jay Sabol checking in every single night with our guys to see if they're OK.
"So we've been monitoring that, as we can."
