Many club teams in the Philippine Basketball Association won’t be able to return to practice on July 22.
Some squads will still have to do swab testing to detect the presence of the coronavirus disease.
Rain or Shine coach Carlos Garcia said this is the reason why they will have to do their practices on a later date.
“The swab tests will delay this. And we were supposed to be practicing on July 22,” stated Garcia in a podcast.
Garcia added that one of their players, Rain or Shine superstar James Yap, is still abroad.
But he has been doing a lot of shooting practices while in Milano Marittima, Italy.
“We are in touch with him via Zoom. He will be coming back once we have confirmed our date of practice,” said Garcia.
The PBA is getting ready to have many its teams start practice this week.
This was after the PBA got the green light through the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Emerging Infectious Diseases, which approved the return to practice of both basketball and football.
The restart will be done under strict health protocols that have also been approved by the Games and Amusement Board.
Yap has been in the province of Ravenna, with his partner Michela and their kids Michael James and Francesca Michelle, since early June.