CHARLOTTE, N.C. — After a six-month layoff, the Charlotte Hornets are practicing together as a team for the first time since March.
The 8 teams not invited to the NBA "bubble" in Orlanda, Fla., are now allowed to establish the same type of environment in their home market.
The Hornets stay at the same hotel, are tested daily for COVID-19 and practice as a team at Spectrum Center.
Head Coach James Borrego was pleased with the first sixty-minute scrimmage-like session.
"They were in much better shape than I expected," Borrego said. "That was the bulk of our day just to see where our guys were at. It was much sharper and much better than I expected."
This will be what the Hornets do for the next few weeks, but there are more unknowns afterwards.
Though the NBA has established a draft date of Nov. 18, there is no start date set for the next season, but it will not begin until January at the earliest.
"We're just enjoying the moment. It's a very fluid situation," Borrego said. "I give our organization a ton of credit just for putting it together. Our guys have really embraced that."
Charlotte's young roster made a strong push towards what would be the end of their season, culminating in a win at the Miami Heat, which is now one win away from the NBA Finals.
"We were on a roll," said point guard Devonte' Graham. "We were playing well together and sharing the ball. Defensively we started to get our rotations down."