Coronavirus Could Impact Combine, Workouts

Concerns over the coronavirus could impact the NBA’s pre-draft combines, on-site workouts and international scouting events, Adrian Wojnarowski and Zach Lowe of ESPN report.

League officials and team executives are monitoring the situations and those events could become more limited in scope, or even cancelled, depending upon the spread of the virus. The global Hoop Summit is scheduled to be held in Portland in April, and the draft combine is, as usual, scheduled to be held in Chicago in May.

The league has already outlined short-term recommendations to its teams. Players are being asked to fist-bump instead of high-fiving fans and avoid handling items from fans such as pens, balls and jerseys to autograph, according to a league memo.

Blazers guard CJ McCollum has already stated in a Twitter post he won’t sign autographs until further notice and many other players are likely to take the same stance.

According to the ESPN report, the NBA and the Players Association have been consulting with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and infectious-disease experts.

To date, there have been no reports of anyone associated with the league contracting the disease. A player who contracted the coronavirus would likely miss two weeks, the ESPN report adds.

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