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Brooklyn Nets guard point Spencer Dinwiddie tested positive for COVID-19, and his status for the planned restart of the NBA in Lake Buena Vista, Florida is unclear at this time.
Dinwiddie spoke to Shams Charania of The Athletic:
“Over the past few months, I have been diligent in protecting myself and others from COVID-19 by following all of the designated protocols and quarantine. I was ready and ready to reunite with my teammates, since we had to be a team of early entry into the shooting season I flew privately to return to New York, passed several COVID-19 tests in my early days in New York and was able to participate in a couple of tests in the first week.
“Initially, we were supposed to be one of the teams to get into the Orlando bubble soon, but the training camp is back in New York and unfortunately now I’m positive. Since I had symptoms, including fever and chest tightness, it wasn’t unclear whether or not I will be able to participate in Orlando.
“The hindsight is 20/20”.
Dinwiddie told Charania that he will isolate himself and re-evaluate after a 14-day period.
The networks and 21 other NBA teams will take part in the planned restart of the league, which is expected to begin on July 30 at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports Complex within Walt Disney World. Brooklyn’s first game will be against Orlando Magic on July 31st.
Losing Dinwiddie would be a major blow to a Nets team without six-star Kyrie Irving, who is out for the season after surgery on his right shoulder in March.
Dinwiddie has been a key part of scoring success this season, especially with Irving losing 44 games due to an injury. He averages 20.6 points and 6.8 assists per game, both of which are career highs. The former Detroit Piston is the team’s top scorer when Irving is off the pitch.
Without Dinwiddie, the nets would presumably have looked towards Chris Chiozza to help bridge the gap to the guard. Caris LeVert and Garrett Temple may also lift the ball.
LeVert in particular would rely more on his scoring efforts. He averaged 17.7 points per game and knocked down 38.1 percent of his three pointers. Expect more use from Temple, Joe Harris and Taurean Prince at the guard and wing points.
The nets are already understaffed in Florida without striker Wilson Chandler, who has decided to forgo the restart for family reasons, according to his comments to ESPN Malika Andrews.
Dinwiddie is the fifth network to test positive for COVID-19 by report. For ESPN, four goals proved positive in March, including striker Kevin Durant, who came out for the year with an Achilles break during the 2019 NBA finals while he was a member of the Golden State Warriors.
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