The NBA confirmed that LeBron James does not have coronavirus and will be able to play this Friday against the LA Clippers

LeBron James, the Los Angeles Lakers superstar, He left the NBA’s protocols against COVID-19 and will be able to return to the courts this Friday against the Los Angeles Clippersthe basketball league reported Thursday.

The forward, 36, He only entered the protocol on Tuesday after “a series of tests will yield conflicting results, including an initial positive test collected on November 29, “the NBA said in a statement. The subsequent exams confirmed that James “It is not a positive case” and the eaves he was allowed to play again “after giving negative in two PCR tests more than 24 hours apart”, noted the text.

In case the positive of LeBron, who has been vaccinated, the player He could have been away from the team for 10 days. This situation caused ‘King James’ to be low in Tuesday’s game against the Sacramento Kings, in which the Lakers won 117-92. A four-ring NBA winner, James is the season’s leading scorer (25.8 points) for the Lakers, who occupy a disappointing sixth position in the Western Conference with 12 wins and 11 losses.

The full NBA statement:

Following two negative PCR tests carried out in the last 24 hours, Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James has dropped out of NBA health and safety protocols.

James originally entered the protocols on Tuesday, November 30, after a series of tests with conflicting results, including a first positive test on November 29. Additional tests confirmed that it is not a positive case.

In accordance with the protocols and consistent tests that have been performed since the restart of 2019-2020 in Orlando, the result of the first positive test was retested and returned a negative and a positive on two different PCR instruments. As a result, James was subjected to additional testing on November 30, with one test returning negative and the other with a clinically inconclusive result.

LeBron James have already missed more than half of the games of the Lakers this season (12 of 23) due to a couple of physical problems, in addition to his one-game suspension for elbowing Isaiah Stewart, player of the Detroit Pistons. It was his first suspension in the NBA in their 19 years career.

With him on the track, the team records a balance of seven wins and four losses, while without their presence they carry five wins and seven falls counting the game in which they managed to impose you against the Sacramento Kings.

LeBron average this campaign 25.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 6.8 assists. If you are out for 10 days, he would miss between four and five games. In principle, it will not be available before Los Angeles Clippers (December 3), Boston Celtics (7/12), Memphis Grizzlies (9/12), and Oklahoma City Thunder (10/12).

“He told me that he is fine, that he is asymptomatic, which is a good sign. Health is the most important thing, more than basketball. LeBron has a family and we want to make sure he will be fine. We cannot allow that to affect us. Obviously, he’s a huge part of our team. But we’ve played a lot of games without it. So we already know how that is, we have to continue playing as we did on the defensive side until he can return, “he had stated. Anthony Davis, partner and friend of LeBron, before the press about his partner’s suspicious case of COVID-19.

Also, the NBA emphasized its previous recommendation, supported by the National Basketball Players Association, about which coaches and players who are vaccinated should get a booster dose of the vaccine as soon as possible. The NBA He also informed the teams that he has registered 34 cases in which a fully vaccinated player, coach or staff member had an infection. The league has said that the 97% of players are fully vaccinated, being Kyrie Irving Brooklyn Nets is the most iconic figure among the exceptions.

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