Jared Dudley thinks NBA players would need ‘at least a month’ to prepare for season if practice facilities stay closed, Quinn Cook thinks season will resume

Despite the rising number of COVID-19, or coronavirus, cases in the NBA, the league is hopeful that it will be able to resume its season some time this year. When exactly that will be is still unknown, but regardless of when the season will continue, there are plenty of questions that will need to be addressed before it does — chief among them: Will the players be ready?

When the NBA season was suspended last week, teams were allowed to keep their practice facilities open for private, solo workouts. Since then, the league has suspended players’ access to their respective teams’ practice facilities too:

For athletes whose job is to stay in great shape, that’s obviously not ideal, but some players are making due with what they have like Lakers guard Quinn Cook, who posted a video of himself running up and down the wood floors of his apartment on Thursday:

During a recent appearance on “Posted Up” with Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports, Cook talked about the importance of staying in shape, and why he’s optimistic that the Lakers will finish out their 2019-20 season:

“I think so, I think so. I think we’ll get through this virus together, as a country, as a world, really. I think we’ll get through it, man, and we’ll get back to sports and stuff like that. But I think everybody’s health is the most important thing, so I agree with what’s going on right now.

“I’d rather be prepared than not be prepared. They could mess around and cancel the whole thing, we might not play another game this season, but I think we’re preparing to come back. And I think with all the resources that the NBA has I think we’ll come back.”

Cook’s teammate, Jared Dudley, is more concerned with how the NBA will resume its season than he is with whether or not it will return.

While the league undoubtedly wants to get its players back on the court as soon as possible, Dudley took to Twitter to express his concerns with the potential consequences that could come with bringing the season back too soon on Thursday:

Dudley’s concerns likely mirror the concerns of many players in the NBA, particularly one that are in their mid-30s like he is. Hopefully the NBA and NBPA can agree on a date to resume the season that will satisfy both parties. If not, they might just be better off starting fresh next season.

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