Detroit Pistons join other non-bubble NBA teams back at practice
After six months without one, it felt so good for some NBA teams to practice again that even Allen Iverson might’ve enjoyed it.
“I’ve never seen a layup drill with such intensity,” Atlanta coach Lloyd Pierce said. “We did a full-court layup drill and the guys were clapping and cheering. You know they haven’t practiced in a long time if they’re excited about layup drills.”
The teams that didn’t qualify for the restart of the NBA season at Walt Disney World could begin voluntary workouts Wednesday to start preparing for their next game — whenever that is.
The league allowed those eight clubs — Atlanta, Golden State, New York, Minnesota, Charlotte, Cleveland, Chicago and Detroit — to have voluntary team workouts by creating their own bubbles, where players and staff stay together and are tested daily for the coronavirus.
While the other 22 teams had all played at least eight games at Disney, the bottom eight had been restricted to only voluntary individual workouts since the NBA season was suspended on March 11 because of the pandemic.
Players who planned to take part in the group workouts could begin individual workouts at team facilities on Sept. 14.