Professional sports returning to New York took a step forward on Sunday afternoon, with Governor Andrew Cuomo’s announcement that teams can immediately begin running training camps.
According to a source, the Knicks are still getting clarification from the NBA. Commissioner Adam Silver is expected to provide additional guidelines after June 1 to speed up training in group settings as the NBA is discussing with Disney and ESPN’s Wide World of Sports complex in Orlando, Florida to host the rest of its season at the beginning of late July. The official training camps are not expected to start until mid-June until June and it remains to be seen whether they will be held at the team’s facilities or in Orlando.
It’s unclear how many Knicks players would find themselves if the facility was open since many of them are out of the area with their families.
The other issue is whether the Knicks will still have games to play. It is unclear whether the NBA will bring back only the 16 playoff teams, complete the regular season or play a play-in tournament. If this includes 24 teams, it would involve the Knicks, who ended the postponed regular season in 12th place. The networks, which have seventh place, would be involved in practically all the reported plans. The Post previously reported that some Knicks players were wary of returning to New York because of the virus that devastated the city, although it has seen deaths and declining cases in recent weeks.