On Friday, the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association said 16 players tested positive for coronavirus in the first wave of mandatory tests conducted in preparation for the season’s restart.
Those 16 players were part of a pool of 302 tested on Tuesday – a 5.3% positive test rate across the league.
Commissioner Adam Silver said the numbers were roughly as expected and that none of the 16 were seriously ill.
“One thing we are learning with this virus is, how unpredictable it is,” Silver said during Friday’s conference call with National Basketball Players Association executive director Michele Roberts and NBPA president Chris Paul. “We are not full steam ahead of time, no matter what happens. We all talk daily and we will see how this continues to unfold. But now we feel very comfortable with where we are.”
Any player who has tested positive will remain in self-isolation until he meets the public health protocols for discontinuing isolation and is authorized by a doctor.
The names of the players were not disclosed; some players, such as Indiana’s Malcolm Brogdon and Sacramento teammates Jabari Parker and Alex Len, have publicly acknowledged that they have recently shown that they are positive.
The NBA season is slated to resume on July 30 with 22 teams participating in Orlando, Florida.
Both Silver and NBPA executive director Michele Roberts said they were “relieved” that the number was not higher and that both sides expected positive tests during this period.
“Well, I think one would have been worrying, but God forgive me, I’m a little relieved that the number wasn’t higher,” said Roberts. “I am also relieved that we had the foresight to identify the players who would have tested positive now, because our goal, of course, is to make sure that when the boys report on campus, they would report that they were tested negative.
“I’ve been holding my breath for the past few weeks – and maybe I should be less enthusiastic or optimistic. If nothing else, he said that the vast majority of our players did exactly what they should have been doing, which is safe. One more once, one is too much, but 150 would have been devastating. “
The league has not announced the test results for staff and other team travel party members, all of whom are part of the mandatory test program.
On Tuesday, teams had to start testing players who participated in voluntary training in their home markets on alternate days. Mandatory training starts on July 1st and teams participating in the reboot can begin arriving in Florida on July 7th. The training camps will take place from 9 to 29 July with three scrimmages per team.
On Thursday, the NBA shared a safety plan with its players to help enforce health and safety protocols and to protect its campus at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex for the resumption of the season, reportedly by ESPN.
Tim Bontemps and ESPN’s The Associated Press contributed to this report.
.
