Knicks News: Governor allows New York sports teams to reopen training facilities

New York Governor allows professional sports teams to resume training camp activities in the state.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced during a press conference at Jones Beach Theater on Sunday that sports teams, including the New York Knicks, can begin holding training camps in the state, effective immediately. Teams are expected to follow appropriate health protocols in resuming activities.

"“Starting today, all the New York professional sports leagues will be able to begin training camps,” Cuomo said, via the New York Post. “I believe sports that can come back without having people in the stadium, without having people in the arena, do it! Do it! Work out the economics if you can. We want you up. We want people to be able to watch sports to the extent people are still staying home. It gives people something to do. It’s a return to normalcy. So we are working and encouraging all sports teams to start their training camps as soon as possible, and we’ll work with them to make sure that can happen.”"

New York has been the epicenter to the novel coronavirus pandemic that shuttered sports leagues across the country in mid-March. As of Saturday, there have been 364,745 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the state, leading to 28,900 deaths.

It’s unclear whether the New York Knicks will play again this year.

Meanwhile, the NBA is progressing toward a resumption of the 2019-20 season, although it is unclear whether the Knicks will be one of the teams required to participate.

As the sixth worst team in the NBA, it is possible they are one of the few teams left out of a plan that could include a mini regular season leading to the playoffs, or a playoff format that includes only the top teams in the league.

There is momentum building toward finishing the season in a “bubble” like atmosphere at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida.

However, there are legitimate concerns with requiring teams to travel to a new location when the reward is limited. The Knicks have no incentive to resume the season, other than to improve their lottery odds by losing.

Despite the coronavirus shutdown, new Knicks president Leon Rose has been busy in filling his front office staff. He hired cap specialist Brock Aller, along with college scout Walt Perrin, and pro scout Frank Zanin. Scott Perry was retained as general manager for the final year of his contract.

The Knicks have not played since March 11, an overtime win in Atlanta. They last played at Madison Square Garden on March 8th against the Pistons. While some players have remained in the tri-state area, several others have left the team, and are awaiting guidance from the NBA on whether they need to return to New York, travel directly to a neutral site, or perhaps their season is already over.