By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
The NBA and NBCA (National Basketball Coaches Association) have agreed on relaxing the rules for coaching attire for the 2020-21 season. Suit jackets or sport coats will not be required, as was the case in the NBA bubble this summer when most coaches wore polo shirts during the games.
However, the use of masks by coaches is now mandatory at all times while coaching, instead of the in-game mask policy during the games in the bubble. The guidelines note that coaches “must not regularly pull down their facemasks more than is occasionally necessary under the circumstances to perform essential coaching duties.”
“The NBA has always been a dynamic business and the challenges we face in society right now with COVID, it only amplifies the dynamic nature of our business,” Dallas Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle, the president of the National Basketball Coaches Association, told Associate Press on Tuesday. “You have to be able to adapt, you have to be looking for solutions … and we’re going to make it work.”
“Wear a mask at all times,” Carlisle added when he was asked about how he’s preparing for the challenges that will come with traveling again for games. “That’s your No. 1 shield. And No. 2, be alert and follow the protocols. It’s an incredible amount of work to not get COVID. You’ve got to work extremely hard to try to stay out of harm’s way and there are never any guarantees. But if you work at it you have a chance.”