SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Jazz have taken a cautious and educated approach throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and will continue to do so.
Jazz executive vice president of basketball operations Dennis Lindsey sat down for a video conference call with reporters Tuesday to discuss an array of topics, including the state of the NBA and the potential for opening up the practice facility in a limited capacity.
“My best guess is it will be after May 8,” Lindsey said of opening Zions Bank Basketball Campus to the Jazz players. “That’s because we want to make sure the facility meets all the league’s specifications, the local and state health officials protocols, and we’re going to be even more a little bit more stringent than those standards and creating our own standards.”
Last week the league office sent a memo to teams informing them of a plan to target May 8 as a date to reopen practice facilities to players for individual workouts in cities where restrictions will allow it. That memo also included a huge list of requirements that teams must meet, including having temperature checks for everyone who enters the building, additional consultation with infectious disease specialists, and extensive sanitizing of equipment, floors and workout areas.
“The biggest goal is to have the confidence of our players and staff that they can enter our facility safely,” Lindsey said. “We are taking it very serious.”
It’s been almost two months since Rudy Gobert was the first NBA player to test positive for the coronavirus while in Oklahoma City and not much has changed since that day as far as the continuing uncertainty surrounding the NBA.
“We’re very pleased with the collective makeup of our group, Donovan and Rudy in particular.” — Jazz Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Dennis Lindsey
Despite the amount of time that has passed and the restrictions that have been easing in cities across the country, including Salt Lake City, the Jazz and the NBA are not going to be taking any risks.
Lindsey is standing firmly behind NBA commissioner Adam Silver who has said that there is no timetable for a return, which will be determined by data and information about the safety and well-being of the players and fans.
“This pandemic is unprecedented,” Lindsey said. “Adam was able to make a very bold decision to put our league on hiatus. I think it led other professional leagues and frankly our country in the right direction. His leadership at the beginning and all throughout has been exceptional at every level.”
Lindsey said that he remains hopeful that the NBA will crown a 2020 champion but isn’t sure what they playoffs will look like or when they will take place.
“There’s no way for me to comment and give specifications,” he said. “The health of our fans, our communities ... our players, the staff are all top at mind and so when the league deems that to be safe, we’ll start moving forward with play and competition.”
Of course, Lindsey expected to be asked about the relationship between Gobert and Donovan Mitchell, and he was. In answering, Lindsey echoed what Gobert and Mitchell have said, noting that both players are ready to move forward and put any sort of disagreement or bad blood behind them.
The Jazz understand that all eyes were on them as they became the team in the eye of the storm when the league shut down after Gobert’s diagnosis. Every move and every comment was under a microscope. Even with all the extra attention and external interpretations of player relationships, Lindsey said that he is confident that all is well between his two star players.
“We’re very pleased with the collective makeup of our group, Donovan and Rudy in particular,” he said. “They’ve said their piece to each other, they’ve both visited at the ownership level, at management level, the coaches level, the players level with each other, they’re fully participating in our Zoom workouts.
“We fully expect the team to come together in a great way and continue to move forward as a group. ... At the most basic level, they know they need each other to accomplish the goals that we want to accomplish and that’s to be the last team standing in the NBA.”