Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey insisted they would not have allowed the NBA to prevent elderly coaches like Mike D'Antoni from being on the sidelines.
The NBA, halted since March because of the coronavirus pandemic, is set to resume at the end of next month as a 22-team tournament that will take place near Orlando, Florida.
Various measures are being implemented to protect players and reduce the possibility of a COVID-19 outbreak, with teams to remain on the site where practices and games will take place.
Last week NBA commissioner Adam Silver had suggested those protocols could extend to keeping older personnel - like 69-year-old Rockets coach D'Antoni - off the bench during games because of their greater vulnerability to contracting the virus and developing complications.
However, Silver has since backtracked on those comments, with Morey noting there would have been pushback from Houston.
"Mike will be coaching our team," he said in quotes published on ESPN.
"It would be such a huge disadvantage to lose him. We would never stand for that.
"In fairness to the league, they set up a process whereby everyone will have to submit a medical record. I'm sure the doctors told them that some people over a certain age shouldn't go.
"But Mike is in great health. He's in better shape than some 40-year-old coaches we have. Besides, I think his dad lived to be 108 or something."
D'Antoni, whose Houston team have a 40-24 record in the Western Conference and have already secured a playoff berth, does not believe he will be kept away from the sidelines because of his age.
"I guess they were thinking it could affect us a little bit more because of our age, but we would catch it at the same rate as any player would," he said.
"If it's not safe for us, then it's not safe for them.
"I know the NBA is going to make it as safe as possible for everyone involved. But there's no such thing as zero risk. I'm not worried about it because I don't think [preventing older coaches from interacting with their players on the bench] will happen.
"I know Adam talked about that on TNT, but since then he's walked it back pretty quick. I think he got a little ahead of himself."