Frank Vogel says Lakers not having access to a basketball court has been ‘a big challenge’

For almost two months, the Los Angeles Lakers haven’t been able to work out at their training facility in El Segundo, or any other gym in the United States. While that isn’t a problem for someone like LeBron James, who has a gym in his home, it is for the players that rely on their teams’ facilities for something as basic as a basketball hoop like Danny Green.

James and Anthony Davis tried to get their Lakers teammates into private gyms, but in late April, the league office informed teams that their players weren’t allowed to seek alternate training facilities. In other words, players have been forced to make due with what they have, and according to Frank Vogel, it hasn’t been enough (via Bill Oram of The Athletic):

Since then, everything has been on hold. The Lakers have been physically separated from their coaches and their familiar environment, and any physical work they’ve done has been more or less at home.

“The bigger challenge,” Vogel said, “is not being able to be on the basketball court. That’s where everything we do (gets done). There’s an element of weight training, there’s an element of cardiovascular training and stuff like that that we do. But most of it is done on the basketball court. … For even the most motivated player, they haven’t had that resource, and that’s been a big challenge.”

The Lakers are hoping that they’ll be able to re-open the doors to their practice facility sooner rather than later. While a handful of teams including the Cleveland Cavaliers and Denver Nuggets have already opened their practice facilities, the Lakers have to wait until at least May 15, when the safer at home order is set to expire in Los Angeles County.

If they get the green light, the Lakers will be able to hold workouts with limited players and staff. That’s obviously not as beneficial to them as a team practice would be, but the expectation is that they’ll get some sort of training camp before the season restarts anyway. Plus, at this point, something is better than nothin — hopefully, on Friday, the Lakers get something.

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