Texas Mask Mandate Change Won’t Affect Mavericks, Rockets, Spurs Games

Three of the NBA’s 30 teams play their home games in Texas, where Gov. Greg Abbott has decided to end both the statewide mask mandate and capacity restrictions for businesses on March 10. The Dallas Mavericks, San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets, however, won’t be taking advantage of the latest change.

All NBA teams will continue to follow the NBA’s COVID-19 protocols, which require players and coaches to wear masks on the bench, in the locker room and in team meetings. Fans will still be required to wear masks when they aren’t eating or drinking, while the venues will continue to operate well below full capacity.

“Nothing will change,” Mavericks owner Mark Cuban told Forbes shortly after Abbott announced he would rescind his executive orders. “We will expand our attendance in accordance with the safety standards we have set and those out in place by the city and county.”

Dallas first welcomed fans back into the American Airlines Center on Feb. 10, and the venue hasn't operated at more than 17% of its 19,200-seat capacity. Just north of 3,000 fans watched the Houston Rockets’ last game in-person. San Antonio will have paying customers in 2021 for the first time on March 12 with 3,200 fans in attendance.

Fewer than half of the NBA’s teams have hosted fans before this weekend’s All-Star break.

Spurs head coach Greg Popovich, who has not been shy about voicing his political opinions, doesn’t agree with Abbott’s decision to list the statewide mask mandate.

“It puts a lot of businesses in a tough spot,” Popovich said Tuesday before the Spurs beat the New York Knicks 119-93 in an empty AT&T Center, via USA Today. “They’re trying to do a good job of keeping everybody safe. Of course they want to open up. But getting rid of masks just seems ignorant to me. We have to have instant gratification and act like the pandemic is over? We already went through this once, and now we’re going to do it again?”

“I’m worried about the people in our state. That’s a pretty mystifying decision considering the situation that we’re all in,” Popovich said. “But as far as the players go, we listen to the NBA, not Governor Abbott.”

The Spurs had four straight games postponed in the middle of February because of COVID-19 protocols. In total, nine games involving Texas’ three basketball teams have been postponed this season.

Plenty of companies in Texas will still require patrons to wear masks.