NBA agrees to new COVID-19 protocols
The NBA has increased testing as COVID-19 cases rapidly grow over the weeks. The league has stated that they will increase daily testing and face mask use for players and staff through the holiday season. Players and staff will be tested on game days as usual, and fully-boosted or recently recovered players are exempt from testing. Players and the staff must wear masks on the bench, in the locker room, in the team’s workout facility, and while traveling both with the team and alone.
What caused these new rules?
The reason for this is that over 40 NBA players have tested positive for COVID-19 in the last few days. The numbers are rapidly increasing daily, and it’s getting worse. We believe if the numbers keep rising like this, the league could possibly be paused for a few weeks until the players are healthy. NBA has thought about letting asymptomatic COVID-19 positive players continue playing and avoid protocol, but the league isn’t there yet. There has also been found something called “Omicron,” which is a new variant for the virus. So far, only one player has gotten this variant; however, it is entirely anonymous on who it is.
Report: NBA has considered allowing players who test positive for COVID-19 but are asymptomatic to continue playing and avoid entering protocol https://t.co/4FOu1cALmu
— NBA Central (@TheNBACentral) December 17, 2021
What happens with the games
So far, Chicago Bulls are the first and only team to have their games rescheduled to another date. The reason for this is because they have less than eight players, and the league requires a minimum of eight eligible players on the court, so five starters + three on the bench. Teams are also allowed to sign players from the g-league to fill in roster spots and avoid rescheduling games. With how the pandemic has taken over the world, there are cases in almost every sport. We are not sure how the NBA will handle things, but we can only hope that it gets better from here and not many games get canceled.
Players and teams who are affected so far
We are not going to go list every player who’s affected by COVID-19; however, here are some of the “better players”: Giannis Antetokounmpo, James Harden, Russell Westbrook, Dwight Howard, De’Aaron Fox, Lamarcus Aldridge, Malik Monk, Avery Bradley, Bruce Brown, Jabari Parker, Bobby Portis, Lamelo Ball, Zach Lavine, Demar Derozan and so on. The bottom line is that there are many players, and this is getting concerning. The Sacramento Kings have shut down all practices because multiple players and coaches/staff are affected.
What happens now?
The only way a player can be cleared from so-called “health and safety protocols” is if a player delivers two negative tests in two days, proving that they’re fully clear of COVID-19. If that doesn’t happen, it is required that the player who’s affected quarantines for 10-14 days and then gets cleared as COVID-19 tends to go away in that day span. The players are all vaccinated too, so hopefully, they will heal fast enough, and we can watch them play again.
