What does Texas’ re-opening May 31 mean for the Houston Rockets?

On Monday afternoon, Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced that professional basketball may resume operations. How does this affect the Houston Rockets?

The state of Texas continued its process of re-opening more businesses on Monday and Texas Governor Gregg Abbott announced even more openings coming soon. Among those announcements, the governor said professional basketball will be allowed to return starting May 31st. What does this mean for the Houston Rockets?

The Toyota Center was re-opened on Monday, allowing for members of the Rockets to utilize the facility in a limited way. As Rockets reporter Cayleigh Griffin noted, Head Coach Mike D’Antoni expected between five and six players to use the gym on its re-opening day.

While that will certainly help the team begin to tune up and begin conditioning for a potential NBA return, there still are some steps that must be taken before we might see live action. The good news is at least three major states so far have announced professional sports will soon be allowed — Texas, California, and New York.

Gov. Newsom (here) and Gov. Cuomo both said today pro sports will be welcome soon in their states @GavinNewsom @NYGovCuomo pic.twitter.com/j9LOAlQddS

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) May 18, 2020

In short, Abbott’s announcement appears to mean the Rockets, Spurs and Mavericks would have the all-clear to resume activities that still incorporate social distancing when applicable. Ultimately, though, it will still be up to NBA Commissioner Adam Silver to decide when the league can make a potential return.

The three states announcing the return of professional sports within minutes of each other certainly does bode well for the NBA’s chances, and the news seems like the kind that can get the ball rolling when it comes to basketball being back on our televisions again.

As news continues to come out regarding the Rockets and the NBA’s potential comeback, we will keep this post updated with the latest.