King Harrison Barnes forward has announced that he has tested positive for COVID-19 before his team left for Orlando last week.
The 28-year-old said he was “mainly asymptomatic” and is in quarantine. Once he is allowed to play, Barnes plans to join his team to restart the NBA.
On Monday, the NBA announced that 19 players, including Houston Rockets guard Russell Westbrook, tested positive before the 22 teams left for Disney World campus. Barnes marks the twentieth player in July and the forty-fifth player to test positively since the start of phase one of the NBA test program in June.
As the teams arrive in Florida, only two of the 322 players have tested positive for COVID-19 during the assigned quarantine period, the league said. These specific positive cases have been put in isolation and the NBA has not identified them. These people never passed the quarantine period, so they had no contact with their teammates, team employees or opposing teams.
According to the NBA protocol, Barnes will have to record two negative tests before he can join his teammates in Orlando. It will be tested daily until then.
Upon arriving at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, Barnes will undergo further COVID-19 tests and two more days of self-quarantine.
This is the first full season of the eight-year-old NBA veteran with the Kings after being traded on February 7, 2019 by the Dallas Mavericks. Barnes averaged 14.7 points, 38.3% on 3 pointers, 2.4 assists per game while shooting 45.9% overall and 4.8 rebounds.
The kings are 28-36 and currently n. 11 in the Western Conference. The reboot will begin on July 31 against the San Antonio Spurs.
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