NBA Staking Its Credibility On Covid-19 Affected Season
The NBA was lauded for pulling off the seemingly impossible by completing last season amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.
The league built a never before seen quarantined facility at Orlando Disney World in Florida. Incredibly, the league returned no positive test throughout the end of the season.
The NBA has an even more difficult task on its hands now, playing a regular season in a transient environment.Â
Nobody is under any illusions as to the motivations of beginning the regular season before Christmas: Money. It means beginning games after the shortest offseason period in history at the point when the Covid-19 virus will be at its most active.
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If the 2020 – 2021 season isn’t a success, the league has left itself open to massive criticism.
As players return to their markets, initial Covid-19 testing was implemented ahead of the start of individual workouts on Tuesday.
48 of 546 players tested positive, the NBA and NBPA announced on Wednesday. 46 players tested positive as they prepared to enter the Orlando bubble. However, this time around the league will have to trust teams to adhere to protocol.
Over the weekend, teams were sent a 134 page health and safety guide. Under the league’s rules, a player who tests positive will have to be excluded for workouts for 10 days. If he displays symptoms, he will have to abstain from activities 10 days from the end of the symptoms.
Afterwards, they will have to workout alone for two days and pass a cardiac screening before joining their team again.
Read: LeBron James ‘Intrigued’ To See NBA Covid Protocol
As the NFL has shown, outbreaks, postponements and upheaval due to the virus is inevitable. The Golden State Warriors has already delayed the start of its individual workouts by a day due to positive tests. They are the first team to be impeded, but they won’t be the last.
