Report: The Atlanta Hawks have no intention to open their practice facility just yet

Last week ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the NBA was going to allow some teams to open their practice facilities. Currently, the Atlanta Hawks have no intention of doing so.

Late last week ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the NBA was going to allow teams in markets with easing stay-at-home orders to open their practice facilities. The Atlanta Hawks are one of those teams as the state of Georgia practically tripped over itself to be among the first states to open back up.

Of course, being the first state to open back up during a pandemic like the one we’re enduring now in the form of COVID-19 is a bit like being a canary in a coal mine. The Hawks are aware of this, and at least at this point have no intention of being the NBA’s representative to flutter into that metaphorical mine.

In an interview on Monday with Matt Stewart of ESPN and the SEC Network, Atlanta Hawks general manager Travis Schlenk revealed that the organization will not be opening up on May 1st, and in fact they’ve received no such formal permission from the NBA.

Regarding the state of communication on the topic between teams and the NBA, Schlenk had this to say:

"“We have not gotten anything official from the NBA yet, to be 100 percent honest with you. Obviously there was a report from ESPN, but the league has not sent anything out. I heard the league was going to send a memo out yesterday, we never received that. It’s been said we were going to open up on Friday but we have not gotten any sort of confirmation of that.”"

Regardless of the state of a memo or further instruction from the league, Schlenk took a cautious tone and indicated they don’t have plans to open up as soon as the NBA would theoretically allow them:

"“I can tell you, though, if we do receive a memo between now and then we currently have no plans to open our facility on Friday. Obviously the state is going to start opening up, but let’s see what happens before we open up. The last thing you want to do is have the state open up and have a second wave come through, so we’re going to see how the state reacts to being open first before we make any decisions about our facility.”"

Considering the deep concern many experts hold regarding the hasty opening of states like Georgia, it’s a relief to see that NBA teams are taking matters into their own hands when it comes to their organizations and facilities.

If Georgia residents find a way to follow social distancing protocols with eased stay-at-home restrictions, perhaps Schlenk and the Atlanta Hawks will choose to open up. But in the meantime, they’re exercising a wise amount of caution.