The list of NBA teams temporarily closing their practice facilities continues to grow. According to Sam Amick of The Athletic (Twitter link), the Kings have shut down their facility after a member of their traveling party tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday.
It’s not clear whether the individual who tested positive is a player, coach, or team staffer. However, with the Kings scheduled to travel to Orlando this Wednesday, the team doesn’t intend to reopen its practice facility before then, Amick adds.
The Kings are the seventh of the 22 teams traveling to Orlando known to have closed their practice facility due to at least one positive coronavirus test. The Bucks, Clippers, Heat, Nuggets, Suns, and Nets have done so as well, though some have since reopened.
As we’ve noted in earlier stories, the NBA anticipated having a number of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 before clubs reported to Orlando — the goal is to make sure that no one who has tested positive enters the Disney campus until they’ve gone through a self-quarantine period, tested negative twice, and been medically cleared.
Still, the ongoing positive tests are certainly a concern. If the Kings’ latest coronavirus case belongs to a player, that player won’t be able to report to Orlando until later this month and would miss a significant portion of the ramp-up period before games begin.
Previously, Kings veterans Buddy Hield, Jabari Parker, and Alex Len all tested positive for the coronavirus.
So there has to be a reason these teams are shutting down their practice facilities. Of course that reason is positive covid test results, right? So what happens when in Orlando they have positive covid-19 test results? I’m guessing they will NOT shut down the Orlando facility and keep playing, right?
So there better be a ton of guys available to fill in as guys drop out with positive tests. I mean we’ve been in lockdown the three months (mostly) and in a few weeks of being too close together all these cases come up positive?
I don’t think we have any kind of idea or handle on this thing at all. The way they are handling Orlando will not provide a bubble like protected atmosphere they are hoping for.
Since they aren’t actually building a bio-dome, the concept of a bubble is just that a concept. Considering that the Disney employees are not being held to the same safety standards, Murphy’s law suggests that it will be impossible to prevent a positive infection for 3 months. You’re telling me the single NBA guys who are subjected to this bubble aren’t going to want to boink one of the hot Disney employees? These millionaires are going to remain celibate for 3 months. Gimme a break!
If these guys are professional and care about their team’s chances of getting a ring, then maybe they can keep it in their pants for a while.
Headlines from CNN: “Florida authorities failed to contact trace.” One of the biggest things that the NBA will need to make sure infected Disney employees don’t make it into Bubbleville is contact tracing. Silver says nothing is risk-free but without contact tracing it is a certainty that there will infections from the outside. At this point, they need to shut it down and plan for how next season will work.
KY Jelly… the new Official lubricant of the NBA Quarantine Bubble… “Its HANDTASTIC!”
Boycott the nba!
Put that stuff on back of jerseys and going to
Lose lots and lots of fans!