NBA closes locker rooms, issues protocol amidst coronavirus concerns
The NBA is joining the country’s other major sports leagues in closing locker room access and has issued temporary protocol amidst growing concerns over novel coronavirus.
Amidst growing concerns over novel coronavirus, the NBA has decided to temporarily close locker room access to non-essential personnel and issued a league-wide protocol for dressing rooms.
As first reported by ESPN Monday night, the league will join the United States’ other main sports leagues currently in action — the NHL, MLB and MLS — in closing access to locker rooms and clubhouses for media and other non-essential personnel. The decision was made after consulting with public health experts and is not meant to restrict media access, but simply ensure the safety of the players and team staff.
On Tuesday, the NBA officially issued its temporary locker room protocol:
According to these rules and procedures, locker rooms will be off limits to everyone but players and essential team personnel, with each team being responsible for organizing its own interview area to facilitate game-day media availability.
As per usual, the home team’s head coach will be available for pregame questions 105 minutes prior to game time, while the visiting team’s head coach will have media availability 90 minutes before game time.
If a team does not have media availability at shootaround in the morning, it will be required to make at least one player available in the team interview area before the game. Media members can request additional players either for one-on-one interviews outside the locker room or a group scrum in the team interview area before games, and those requests will be fielded on a case-by-case basis.
As for postgame, head coaches and requested players will be made available for questions in the team interview area. Requests for those players should be made to the PR team within 15 minutes of the game ending.
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For more information about COVID-19, visit the CDC’s website or the website for your state’s Department of Health.