Fred Katz: Tommy Sheppard said four of the six Wizards players with COVID are asymptomatic. The other two are feeling symptoms. One was feeling symptoms two days ago and has felt great the last two days, he says.
More on Coronavirus
Tim Reynolds: The updated Games Lost This Week To COVID Mess scoreboard: Wizards 4, Celtics 3, Suns 3, Cavaliers 2, Heat 1, Pelicans 1, Mavericks 1, Bulls 1, Jazz 1, Magic 1, Hawks 1, Warriors 1, Pistons 1, Pacers 1
Years ago, a longtime NBA scout settled into Madison Square Garden for an early-season college game. He found his seat more than two hours before tip-off, eager to watch warmups. He’d heard good things about the prospect he had come to evaluate. The player, a college junior, was excelling for a ranked Big East team. The scout pulled out his notebook and pen.
But the player, whom the scout declined to name, “didn’t possess the demeanor of a pro.” He didn’t hustle. He “goofed off,” failed to run in straight lines during warmup drills and didn’t make much eye contact with teammates. “The overall feel I got left me with a lot of questions,” the scout recalls. “It was a red flag.” He crossed off the prospect’s name, packed his bags and left the arena — before the game had even begun. Sticking around, he reasoned, would have been a waste of time.
But the landscape has shifted this season, with almost every NBA organization opting to conduct all college scouting remotely, according to conversations with nearly a dozen league scouts. The consensus is that with live evaluation on pause because of the pandemic, they must pick up on the little things through TV. There’s an increased importance in making extra calls to a prospect’s past and current acquaintances, down to grassroots coaches and high school guidance counselors.
“When you see a player in person, I can’t tell you the world of difference it makes,” says a Western Conference scout based in the Northeast. “It’s all in the details you pick up: warmups, body language, what do they do when the camera isn’t on them. The stuff you can’t get on TV or on Synergy (an analytics and film platform). The biggest thing is that being at the games and seeing these guys for yourself reduces our organization’s risk as far as making a pick.”
Howard Beck: pic.twitter.com/NdrzWH86fb
The Washington Wizards are dealing with an outbreak situation, with the franchise now up to five players who have tested positive for COVID-19, sources tell The Athletic's Shams Charania and Fred Katz. The Wizards last played on Monday against the Phoenix Suns. They have already had two games postponed this week — Wednesday against the Jazz and Friday against the Pistons. Washington's next scheduled game is Sunday against the Cavaliers.
Fred Katz, Wizards writer: The Wizards had plenty of close calls with COVID-19 before eventually having to miss games. They played the Celtics last week, the day before Boston flashed a positive test. Before that, they went up against the 76ers the day before they had one. Kevin Durant went into quarantine the day after his Nets played the Wizards. Bulls players tested positive in the middle of a series in Washington. Now, the Wizards are the ones dealing with the real-life issues that come with playing this season in the middle of a pandemic.
Katz: Most importantly, the Wizards have to get healthy. Players who test positive for coronavirus must quarantine for a minimum of 10-to-14 days, per league rules. If they have symptoms, quarantines can be longer than that. They then have a two-day ramp-up period and have to pass a cardio test before returning for good. It could be a while before some of these guys return. The status of the upcoming series against Cleveland, scheduled for Sunday/Monday, is up in the air, given today's news. Either way, it will be a minute before we see the Wizards in their full form.
Jon Krawczynski: Juancho Hernangomez has entered isolation and will be out at least 10 days, sources told @TheAthleticMIN
Cody Taylor: The Timberwolves announced Juancho Hernangómez and Ricky Rubio are in the health & safety protocols and will not play tomorrow night vs. the Grizzlies.
Jonathan Feigen: Calvin Murphy opens tonight's broadcast by saying he was out while in isolation after coming in contact with someone with COVID-19 but that he is back, healthy and good looking.
Roy Parry: Magic center Mo Bamba did not travel with the team to Boston because of non-team contact tracing, according to league sources. Bamba does not have COVID-19. His availability beyond Friday's game will be determined by the NBA.
Tim Reynolds: The Magic have left the gate. Game on in Boston tomorrow.
A. Sherrod Blakely: "This is going to be a year of curveballs." - #Celtics Brad Stevens
Cody Taylor: Steve Clifford said the Magic are very confident the game tomorrow night vs. the Celtics will be played: "Our plan is that we'll be playing."
Tom Orsborn: Rudy Gay on tighter COVID protocols: "I guess you can complain about it, but, at the end of the day, it’s about safety. That’s the most important part, not just for us, but for our families, staff, everybody."
How do you reflect on your time in the NBA bubble last season, and should the league go back? Damian Lillard: I enjoyed the bubble for what it was. The NBA put us in a safe environment that allowed us to compete for a championship, and do what we love to do. That came at the expense of our family and being away from home. Right now, I think I would say no to going back to the bubble. What we need to do is challenge each team and each organization to be more disciplined, and the players to be more disciplined, and understand that if one person decides to step outside the protocol and what they’re asking, how it can impact and affect other players, and not just those players, but their families and whoever they take it home to.
Damian Lillard: So, that’s what the challenge is, and just let them know, we need to create a bubble within our team, within our organization. The people in our facility and a bubble in our household, that way we’re protecting each other to the best of our abilities. But I wouldn’t say go back to a bubble because there’s so much more season to be played, people have families, and at least we’re forming a bubble in our homes, in our own beds and get to do it that way.
Matthew Tynan: So, the Spurs have teamed up with Xenex Germ-Zapping Solutions in an effort to fight COVID-19. They’re the first NBA team to deploy robots (yes, robots) to disinfect their arena. The future is here, folks. The rise of the machine is upon us. pic.twitter.com/nt4KiIA1Vi
Chris Mannix: I've been hearing from people within the league office that you're not gonna see anything radical happen when it comes to how they're going to deal with this growing number of infections and people being exposed to infections, but they will nibble around the fringes a little bit and adding bodies might be one way to do it.
Ohm Youngmisuk: Stan Van Gundy repeated that 4,400 people died in the US of coronavirus yesterday and that is what matters the most, more than a basketball game. “This is serious stuff and we need to prevent the spread.”
Eric Woodyard: As cases of COVID-19 continue to rise, Milwaukee Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer says he trusts in the league to keep them safe but also acknowledges that “it certainly feels like we’re being pushed to that limit.” He respects the NBA and will continue to follow leadership.
Sarah K. Spencer: Kevin Huerter says the Hawks have a few people who are self-isolating. "Hopefully we can nip it real quick... We had no contact with Phoenix. But with our team situation, obviously we think we have the right people in isolation and hopefully it doesn't spread too far from that."
Sarah K. Spencer: Kevin Huerter: "As far as I know, someone in our organization at some point was exposed. We don't know whether it was tracing or whether they had it. All we know is there were people who weren't involved in practice today that usually are."
Shams Charania: 16 new NBA players have tested positive for coronavirus out of 497 tested since Jan. 6, sources tell @The Athletic @Stadium.
Chris Mannix: NBA announces 16 new positive COVID tests.
Sarah K. Spencer: Lloyd Pierce says he is self-isolating in a hotel room right now, due to contact-tracing. He didn't give a time period of how long he has to isolate, just says it's until the league tells him. Says he has tested negative.
Sarah K. Spencer: Lloyd Pierce says the team is still planning to travel to Utah tomorrow.
Connor Letourneau: Damion Lee on Eric Paschall's false-positive coronavirus test: "This virus is nothing to play with, whether it's a false-positive or an actual positive. ... It'll be great having EP back out there tomorrow."
Aaron Gordon: It’s starting to get janky... I’d be cool with a bubble if it was in the Bahamas or Hawaii and we got to bring our family/wife or girlfriend
What if players volunteered at the many public distributions centers that are being arranged throughout the country and received the vaccine in that setting while encouraging the masses to do the same along the way? A source with knowledge of the call with team presidents said UCLA was the possible site mentioned, but that sort of approach could gain traction. According to a Pew poll of 12,648 people conducted from Nov. 18-29, just 42 percent of Black people intended to get the vaccine when it became available. It has been chronicled and analyzed that many in the Black community are known to be distrustful of vaccines, in large part because of the shameful history of the Tuskegee syphilis experiment.
The potential thinking here isn’t hard to understand: The sight of the world’s most famous basketball players — the large majority of whom are Black — getting the vaccine while sharing productive vaccine messaging could go a long way toward aiding that cause. With President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris set to be inaugurated on Jan. 20, a source said league officials have been in touch with the incoming administration’s transition team about how the NBA might be able to help.
Malone’s Nuggets were inside the bubble until the Western Conference finals were over. He argued publicly for coaches to be able to welcome families — a luxury the players enjoyed far, far earlier than coaches. There is no bubble now because the isolation was too much for everybody involved. League officials resist even the idea of a shutdown or pause right now. They want to plow ahead and get this season over, so the next one (with fans allowed in) can start on time. But to hear Malone warm to the idea of a bubble is an indicator of just how difficult it is navigating a season outside of one in this pandemic.
“Do I think it’s worthwhile?” Donovan said. “I think it’s worthwhile as long as the people still making those decisions feel very comfortable about the safety measures and protocols being in place to try to protect everybody as best as possible. And I think everybody is kind of putting their trust in the doctors, in the medical experts.”
“What we’re missing in this is COVID created this, but the concern is not COVID now,” Sixers coach Doc Rivers said. “The concern is injuries, because guys are playing so many minutes because we don’t have enough guys. If I was deciding games in that way, I would be very careful if I’m the league, because you don’t want that to happen either.”
Thunder guard George Hill pushed back against the stricter COVID-19 safety protocols the NBA announced Tuesday, wondering why the season would continue if such measures were necessary. “I’m a grown man, so I’m gonna do what I wanna do,” Hill said after the Thunder’s 112-102 loss to the Spurs. “If I wanna go see my family, I’m gonna go see my family. They can’t tell me I have to stay in the room 24/7. If it’s that serious then maybe we shouldn’t be playing. It’s life. No one’s gonna be able to just cancel their whole life for this game.”
Farbod Esnaashari: Everyone is paying attention to George Hill's quote, but should pay attention to Shai: "If it means I have to wear a mask on the bench the whole time, it is what it is and I'm gonna do it. I want to get back to normal living, and whatever it takes to get back, I'm going to do it
Harrison Faigen: Kyle Kuzma isn't overly enthused by the idea of going back to the bubble, but made it seem like he'd be willing if necessary. "Obviously that would be a last resort type of deal... But this team, this organization, if a championship is on the line, that's what we're going to do"
Adrian Wojnarowski: On @Sportscenter reporting on why — so far — the NBA isn’t pausing the season.
Eric Paschall: pic.twitter.com/4HfleO1B2d
Adrian Wojnarowski: Two Wizards players in contact tracing, per source.
Harrison Feigan: "That's the hope, obviously," Marc Gasol, when asked if he thinks the NBA can make it through the season. "Hopefully we can get through this month and then we'll go from there."
Mike Trudell: Marc Gasol said he understands and respects the tighter policies as the NBA tries to minimize risk during the ongoing pandemic: “It’s for the best of everyone. We understand that."
Kendra Andrews: Malone says it's not surprising the league updated its covid protocols. He says he wants hopes for greater commitment to those rules moving forward. "Hopefully these new protocols will allow us to see less players and teams affected by covid."
Harrison Wind: Michael Malone on the enhanced COVID protocols: "I think everybody's got to be committed to that and stop thinking about themselves and think about the collective good of their teams and the entire NBA." "None of us want to see the season stopped."
Brandon Rahbar: Al Horford on the NBA’s COVID protocols: “For all of this to work, we have to continue to cooperate and do what’s asked of us. I feel like that’s the only way we can continue the season. We have to take care of ourselves. We have to be cautious.”
Josh Hart: No handshakes for anyone now
Tom Moore: #Sixers coach Doc Rivers on new, stricter #NBA rules: 'We just have to be more careful. ... I'm not concerned with some of the things on the floor. ... It's coming from the outside to the inside. We just have to be vigilant when we walk outside.'
Brad Townsend: Mavericks who are listed as out for tommorow's game at Charlotte due to "health and safety protocols." Maxi Kleber, Dwight Powell, Josh Richardson, Dorian Finney-Smith, Jalen Brunson. As of yesterday, four Mavericks had tested positive for COVID-19, sources told the DMN.
