NBA Postponing Wednesday’s Blazers/Grizzlies Game
The game between the Trail Blazers and Grizzlies scheduled to be played in Portland on Wednesday is being postponed due to COVID-19 contact tracing, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter).
The Grizzlies, who last played on Monday night vs. Phoenix, are the team being affected by the contact tracing protocols, per Wojnarowski (Twitter link). The NBA, in officially announcing the postponement, confirmed that Memphis doesn’t have the league-mandated minimum of eight players available.
As of Monday, Jonas Valanciunas was the only Grizzlies player who was ruled out due to the league’s health and safety protocols — it’s not clear if today’s contact tracing is related to the veteran center, or if members of the team have had possible close contact with someone else who tested positive for the coronavirus.
The Blazers and Grizzlies are scheduled to play again in Portland on Friday, so unless the NBA’s contact tracing investigation resolves quickly, that game may be in danger of being pushed back as well.
This is the 16th NBA game so far during the 2020/21 season to be postponed. The full list can be found right here.
COVID-19 Roundup: Silver, Vaccine, Restrictions, Flights, Postponements
The NBA has held discussions about players receiving COVID-19 vaccines in order to influence the general public, and the African-American community in particular, to do the same, Brian Windhorst of ESPN reports. Commissioner Adam Silver hopes the league can set an example and foster the belief that the vaccines are safe and effective.
“Several public health officials — and this is operating state by state right now — have suggested there would be a real public health benefit to getting some very high-profile African Americans vaccinated to demonstrate to the larger community that it is safe and effective,” Silver said.
Right now, NBA athletes are not eligible to receive the vaccines until they become more widely available. It has been suggested that players could volunteer at public distribution centers and receive the vaccine in that setting while encouraging the public to follow suit. Michele Roberts, the executive director of the National Basketball Players Association, has said that numerous players are hesitant about getting the vaccine.
We have more COVID-19 related news:
- There’s been a mixed reaction to the recently-tightened health and safety protocols, according to Sean Highkin of Bleacher Report. Some players and coaches are resistant to the notion of having little to no contact with the outside world. Others say they have little choice. “If we don’t accept that that’s the way it has to be, we lose out on a lot of things. Our season, our health, our contracts, everything goes downhill if we don’t play by these rules,” Suns coach Monty Williams said.
- In the same article, Highkin noted that 28 of the NBA’s 30 teams have a partnership with Delta Airlines, which has not mandated that its flight crews get tested for COVID-19 despite lobbying from the league’s medical leadership. Delta crew members must wear masks and can’t come within six feet of any NBA personnel, but several teams still refuse to eat on team planes.
- The league is determined to continue playing despite a rash of postponements due to virus-related issues, Chris Hine of the Minneapolis Star Tribune writes. An unnamed Western Conference executive told ESPN’s Baxter Holmes that resistance to playing in another bubble-like environment made these issues inevitable. “Nobody wanting to go back to a long bubble period of play has put us in this position,” he said. “It is doable but sub-optimal.”
Wizards’ COVID-19 Problems Worsen As Another Player Tests Positive
The Wizards’ COVID-19 issues continue to mount, as a seventh player and a staff member have now tested positive, Ava Wallace of the Washington Post tweets.
On Friday, Washington GM Tommy Sheppard confirmed that six players had tested positive for the virus and three others were under health and safety protocols.
However, there is some room for optimism. The team could practice again as soon as Wednesday, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets. That’s because some of the players currently under health and safety protocols could soon be cleared to return, he adds.
The lack of available players has forced the NBA to postpone five consecutive Wizards games. Earlier on Monday, the league announced the Wizards’ game on Wednesday against the Hornets would be moved to a later date. They also officially waived center Anžejs Pasečņiks, though it’s unknown whether he was one of the players on the COVID-19 list.
The Wizards started to bring players who have tested negative and cleared contact tracing protocols into the practice facility for one-on-zero workouts Sunday, Fred Katz of The Athletic tweets. They haven’t been together in a group setting since their last game a week ago.
NBA Postpones Wednesday’s Wizards/Hornets Game
The Wizards‘ coronavirus outbreak continues to force postponements, with the NBA announcing today that Wednesday’s game in Charlotte between the Wizards and Hornets won’t take place as scheduled. It’s the fifth consecutive Washington game that has been postponed.
General manager Tommy Sheppard confirmed over the weekend that the Wizards have had six players test positive for the coronavirus, with three more players tied up in the NBA’s health and safety protocols for contact tracing purposes.
It’s not clear whether or not Anžejs Pasečņiks – who has since been waived – was one of the affected players. Either way though, with Thomas Bryant out for the season due to a torn ACL, Washington doesn’t have the league-required minimum of eight players available for games.
The team hasn’t played since last Monday, when it recorded a 128-107 win over Phoenix. The next game on the Wizards’ schedule is a Friday contest in Milwaukee — we’ll have to wait to see if it can be played as scheduled.
The NBA has now had to postpone 15 games on this season’s schedule. The full list can be found right here.
Start Of Monday’s Pistons/Heat Game Pushed Back
12:39pm: The NBA has officially announced that the Pistons/Heat game has been delayed to 8:00 pm. According to Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press (Twitter link), the move was made to allow for more COVID-19 tests to be processed before the teams take the court. Both clubs are still planning to play tonight, Reynolds adds.
12:20pm: Monday’s game between the Pistons and Heat, originally scheduled to be played in Miami at 3:00 pm eastern time, will be delayed until at least 8:00 pm, according to Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel (Twitter link).
As Winderman explains, the delay is related to the NBA’s COVID-19 protocols. The league, which has already had to postpone 14 games so far this season due to the health and safety protocols, still hopes today’s Pistons/Heat game can be played, but it sounds like a postponement remains a possibility.
The Pistons and Heat have each had one game postponed this season, but there hadn’t been any prior indication that today’s contest was in jeopardy. On last night’s injury report, Miami only had Avery Bradley and Jimmy Butler listed as out due to health and safety protocols, while Detroit wasn’t missing any players due to the protocols.
We’ll update this story with the latest info when the NBA provides more clarity. Until then, you can view the list of this season’s postponements right here.
Sixers-Thunder Sunday Game Postponed
The Sixers–Thunder game scheduled for Sunday night has been postponed due to ongoing contract tracing, the 14th postponement of the young season, the NBA announced in a press release.
Philadelphia doesn’t have the league-required eight players available to proceed, the league said. The team was seen warming up prior to the decision.
The cause is connected to the Sixers’ game against the Grizzlies on Saturday, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer adds (via Twitter) that the 76ers have no new positive cases to report at this time.
Seth Curry (health and safety protocols), Vincent Poirier (health and safety protocols), Mike Scott (knee) and Joel Embiid (knee) were the only players listed as out on the original injury report. The game was scheduled to commence at 7:00 pm ET on NBA TV.
Philadelphia has upcoming games scheduled against the Celtics on both Wednesday and Friday. The Sixers currently own the fourth-best record in the Eastern Conference at 9-5.
Karl-Anthony Towns Reveals He’s Tested Positive
Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns has tested positive for COVID-19, he revealed on his Twitter account.
His announcement came shortly after the league postponed the Grizzlies–Timberwolves game on Friday due to coronavirus issues within Minnesota’s team.
Towns, whose family has been devastated by the virus, said he will “immediately isolate and follow every protocol.”
“I pray every day that this nightmare of a virus will subside and I beg everyone to take it seriously by taking all of the necessary precautions,” Towns said.
Towns lost his mother and several other relatives to the virus. In his statement, he expressed concern for the health of his father and sister.
President of Basketball Operations Gersson Rosas says it is “heartbreaking” that Towns tested positive, especially with what the Towns family has been through with COVID-19, ESPN’s Malika Andrews tweets.
“It’s a lesson for all of us. Basketball is a microcosm of society right now…this virus is powerful,” Rosas said.
Rosas confirmed two players have tested positive and another is out due to contact tracing, Andrews adds in another tweet.
The Timberwolves previously announced that power forward Juan Hernangomez would isolate for at least 10 days due to health and safety protocols and that point guard Ricky Rubio would miss Friday’s game due to those regulations.
Wizards GM Confirms That Six Players Have Coronavirus
The Wizards have six players who have tested positive for COVID-19 and three others under health and safety protocols, Tim Bontemps of ESPN tweets.
GM Tommy Sheppard revealed those totals during a press conference. Coach Scott Brooks said he hopes the team can start practicing sometime next week.
Sheppard is optimistic that players who have tested negative can come in for individual workouts as soon as Saturday, Bontemps adds in a separate tweet. No staff member has tested positive.
Out of the six players who have tested positive, four are asymptomatic, Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN tweets.
The Wizards have been forced to postpone a number of games. They were supposed to play the Jazz on Wednesday and the Pistons on Friday. Earlier in the day, the league announced that Washington’s back-to-back games on Sunday and Monday against Cleveland had been postponed as well.
The next game on the club’s schedule is next Wednesday at Charlotte. All of the league’s postponements can be found here.
Timberwolves-Grizzlies Game Postponed
The Timberwolves–Grizzlies game, scheduled for Friday evening, has been postponed in accordance with health and safety protocols, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania (Twitter link).
Minnesota is the latest team with COVID-19 issues. The Timberwolves do not have the required eight players available to play the game due to ongoing contact tracing, according to a team press release.
The Timberwolves previously announced that power forward Juan Hernangomez would isolate for at least 10 days due to health and safety protocols and that point guard Ricky Rubio would miss Friday’s game due to those regulations. The postponement suggests that Minnesota’s COVID-19 issues may have worsened.
This mark the 13th postponement in the league this season. The Wizards, Suns, Heat, Celtics, Mavericks and Rockets have been in the same predicament, forcing at least one postponement for those teams.
All of the previous postponements can be found here.
NBA Postpones Two Wizards/Cavaliers Games
Two more upcoming Wizards games won’t be played as scheduled, according to the NBA. The league announced today in a press release that the Wizards/Cavaliers games on the schedule for Sunday (January 17) and Monday (January 18) have been postponed due to health and safety protocols.
The games are being pushed back because the Wizards don’t have the required minimum of eight players available. A report this morning indicated that the team has had five players test positive for COVID-19 this week. Others are believed to be self-isolating as well due to the league’s contact tracing protocols.
These are the third and fourth consecutive postponements for the Wizards, who didn’t have enough players available to face the Jazz on Wednesday night or the Pistons tonight.
The next game on the club’s schedule is next Wednesday at Charlotte. It’s possible some players currently in the contact tracing protocols could be cleared by then, giving Washington enough players to avoid a fifth straight postponement. We’ll have to wait to see how the next few days play out though.
The NBA has now had to postpone a dozen games this season, including 11 since Sunday. We’re keeping tabs on the full list of postponements right here.