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History books will remember this when you look back, these rare days when everything was put on hold by the coronavirus. Also the bounce of the ball, a cursed sound since the beginning of March, when all sports competitions stopped abruptly. But Monday, May 4 was the first day of the new time. In Andorra and Valencia they shot to the basket, again: "I'm coming back."

It happened in Andorra and Valencia, and it was going to happen this Tuesday in Malaga, where the Unicaja staff (and the family members who live with them) underwent serological tests on Monday. But they want to wait to comply with the CSD protocol that was made official on Sunday, without incurring illegalities and with the additional recommendations that the ACB has sent, which insist on physical and medical tests, as exhaustive as if it were a preseason , according to the Spanish Association of Basketball Doctors. Also ready are Iberostar Tenerife or Herbalife Gran Canaria. With a little less haste, Real Madrid and Barcelona, ​​for example, are not planning to return until next week.

In any case, if there are no setbacks, the activity will soon return to each Pavilion of the Endesa League. At least to the teams that continue with options not to end the season. Movistar Estudiantes, for example, already saved and with no games on the horizon, nor does he consider going back to the pit. It will be like this Monday, a solo player, a deserted pavilion, the squeaking of the shoes as an acoustic accompaniment, and several coaches with masks and gloves to complement the strange mosaic.

Morabanc was a pioneer in Spain, precisely because Andorra is not Spain. Its special status, the most relaxed confinement measures they have had in the Principality, where the impact of the pandemic has not been so fierce - it has registered a total of 45 deaths from coronavirus - have allowed Ibon Navarro players to be the first collective professional team to start the 'de-escalation'. After almost two months, basketball revived in the Pavelló del Govern, which had not hosted training since March 12, five days after the victory in Murcia on the day before the ACB break.

It was a strange afternoon, marked by the distances dictated by the protocols and by the disinfection measures. Yesterday, half the Andorran squad, Clevin Hannah, Jeremy Sendas, Alexis Bartolomé, Frantz Massena, Nacho Llovet and Hugo Bartolomé trained. Twenty minutes between each player . Today will be the turn of Dejan Musli, David Jelínek, Guille Colom, Moussa Diagne, Tyson Pérez and Dejan Todorovic. David Walker, who left for Ohio with his family, is scheduled to return on Wednesday. And Bandja Sy, who traveled to Belgrade to see her daughter born, as soon as they open the borders of Serbia. Both must pass a 14-day quarantine.

Brizuela, during the test UNICAJA

Valencia also walked quickly in the wonderful facilities of L'Alqueria del Basket , where Abalde, Van Rossom or Mike Tobey could be seen stretching, returning to activity so long after, after passing the relevant medical tests. This Tuesday the other half of the Taronja squad will do it.

It was a day of silence and caution. "It is very important in this type of situation not to overdo it," warned Miguel Ángel Rodellar , the physical trainer of Andorra who has guided the confinement of his players (on Sunday they were subjected to the tests) and who now ensures that the return is without mishaps . "You should not fall short either, because the idea is to work with the intensity and breaks as always." On the optimistic horizon, the ACB plans to resolve the season in early July at a single venue.

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