Philadelphia 76ers Unsure About Practice Facility Status for May 8th

The NBA will allow select teams to open up their practice facilities on May 8th. The Philadelphia 76ers are unsure if they will qualify or not.

Justin Grasso | May 1, 2020

On Friday, many expected several NBA teams to open up their practice facilities officially. Unfortunately, that won't happen just yet. After ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the league planned to allow NBA teams that are located in states, who have eased up on stay-at-home restrictions to open practice facilities on May 1st.

But not every team was on board with allowing players to return to practice that early. Therefore, the NBA pushed the target date back to May 8th instead. While that could still change as the date approaches, half of the NBA understands there's a good chance they will be able to open up their facilities by next week.

Some organizations have already accepted the reality they will have to wait longer than a week to open up based on state laws. Others are already eager to open facilities. The Philadelphia 76ers, however, aren't sure what they will be able to do.

Despite playing games in Philadelphia, the 76ers' practice facility is actually located in Camden, New Jersey. If the Sixers were to hold practice in Pennsylvania, they would more than likely return to practice by next week.

That's not the case, though. Being in Camden, the 76ers will have to abide by New Jersey's state laws. And in this case, there could be a good chance that the Sixers will have to be grouped in with the teams that will have to wait to open facilities.

While New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy will allow state parks and golf courses to open up on May 2nd, the stay-at-home order will "remain in effect until further notice," according to a report from CNBC. Since the NBA will count on state laws pertaining to the stay-at-home orders, that could mean the 76ers could be one of a handful of teams that will not open up their practice facilities by May 8th.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter: @JGrasso_

Published May 1, 2020

JUSTIN GRASSO

Title: Credentialed writer/reporter covering the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated’s FanNation Email: JustinGrasso32@Gmail.com Location: Philadelphia, PA Expertise: Reporting, insight, and analysis on the Sixers and the NBA Justin Grasso is a credentialed writer and publisher covering the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated’s FanNation. Grasso got his start in sports media in 2016 with FantasyPros, working the news desk, providing game-by-game player analysis and updates on the Portland Trail Blazers and the Golden State Warriors. By 2017, he joined FanSided’s Philadelphia Eagles site as a staff writer. After spending one season covering the Eagles as a staff writer, Grasso was promoted to become the site’s Co-Editor. For the next two NFL seasons, he covered the Eagles closely before broadening his NFL coverage. For a brief stint, Grasso covered the NFL on a national basis after joining Heavy.com as an NFL news desk writer. In 2019, Grasso joined the 76ers' beat on a part-time basis, stepping into a role with South Jersey’s 97.3 ESPN. Ahead of the 2019-2020 NBA season, he concluded a three-year stint covering the Eagles and joined the Sixers beat full-time. Grasso has covered the 76ers exclusively since then for Sports Illustrated. He is a member of the Pro Basketball Writer’s Association. Twitter: @JGrasso_ Instagram: @JGrassoNBA