Following Cuomo announcement, Nets to begin workouts at HSS Tuesday

Following an announcement by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, the Nets on Sunday issued a statement that player workouts will begin Tuesday at the Hospital for Special Surgery Center in Brooklyn.

Cuomo made his announcement at his daily briefing on the coronavirus.

“I believe that sports that can come back without having people in the stadiums, without having people in the arena - do it. Work out the economics if you can,” Cuomo said at his briefing on the coronavirus which took place at Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh on Long Island.

“We want you up. We want people to be able to watch sports. To the extent people are still staying home, it gives people something to do. It’s a return to normalcy. So we are working and encouraging all sports teams to start their training camps as soon as possible. And we’ll work with them to make sure that can happen.’’

Hours later, the Nets made their announcement...

“Working in conjunction with state government officials and local health authorities, the Brooklyn Nets will open HSS Training Center for voluntary player workouts on Tuesday, May 26. The organization will strictly follow the protocols outlined by the NBA and infectious disease experts to ensure that all precautions are taken in order to maintain a safe and healthy environment for players and staff.”

Cuomo’s guidelines appear to have been directed at the state’s two NBA teams since the league is permitting teams to bring players into team practice facilities for workouts with health restrictions. New York’s MLB teams train in Florida, outside the governor’s jurisdiction. The NHL is still in limbo. The NFL, which has one New York team, the Bills, usually begins training camp at the end of July,

There will be severe limitations. Only four players can be in the building at any one time, working with an assistant coach, and only one player per basket. Workouts last 45 minutes and personnel must maintain social distancing.

As Marc Stein tweeted after Cuomo announcement, the Nets and Knicks were two of 11 teams that had not yet opened their practice facilities for players to work out.

The workouts are voluntary but teams expect the NBA will issue guidelines late this week that will allow franchises to start recalling players who’ve left their markets, reported ESPN. It would be a first step toward a return-to-play, which the league has said could begin at Walt Disney World in late July.

Although there have been reports that most of the players from the Nets and Knicks have left the market, it appears that more Knicks than Nets departed. In recent weeks, there’s evidence that about half of the Nets 17 players have stuck around, including Kyrie Irving, Joe Harris, Jarrett Allen, Garrett Temple, Wilson Chandler, Dzanan Musa and Rodions Kurucs . Kevin Durant and DeAndre Jordan have decamped to California and Spencer Dinwiddie to Texas.

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