May 24, 2020 | 5:06pm | Updated May 24, 2020 | 5:36pm
Knicks and Nets players are expected to soon have the option of taking part in voluntary workouts at their practice facilities in Tarrytown and Brooklyn, respectively, after Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Sunday greenlit New York professional teams being able to holding training camps.
It remains to be seen how many of the players plan to take advantage of that option, though, since many of them aren’t in the area and instead with their families instead during the coronavirus pandemic. Two Knicks – Taj Gibson and Frank Ntilikina – have remained local, as have several Nets. The teams’ two facilities have been closed due to state shutdown laws. Under the NBA guidelines for opening facilities, no more than four players were allowed to work out together at one time and no coaches were allowed to participate. Scrimmages were also prohibited.
The Nets announced Saturday they will open HSS Training Center for voluntary player workouts May 26. The Knicks, when contacted by The Post, did not have a comment on the news. According to a source, the Knicks are still receiving clarification from the NBA. Twenty-one teams have opened their facilities for voluntary workouts after the NBA announced it would allow franchises to do so in accordance with their local government.
Commissioner Adam Silver is expected to give further guidelines after June 1 to ramp up workouts in group settings, as the NBA is in talks with Disney and ESPN’s Wide World of Sports complex in Orlando, Fla. to host the remainder of its season as early as late July. Official training camps aren’t expected to begin until mid-to-lane June and it remains to be seen if those will be held at team facilities or in Orlando.
The other issue is if the Knicks will have any games left to play. It is unclear if the NBA will bring back just the 16 playoff teams, complete the regular season or have a play-in tournament. If that includes 24 teams, it would involve the Knicks, who finished the postponed regular season in 12th place in the Eastern Conference. The Nets, who are in seventh place, would be involved in virtually any of the reported plans. The Post previously reported a few Knicks players were wary of returning to New York because of the virus that has ravaged the city, though it has seen declining deaths and fewer cases in recent weeks.
