BarcelonaAfter being locked in an apartment in Athens for a week, Nigel Hayes-Davis will return to Barcelona this Saturday. The Barça winger is one of the basketball players who has tested positive for coronavirus in recent weeks full of infected people. The match that Joventut de Badalona and Madrid had to play on Monday, for example, was postponed due to an outbreak in the white team. The same happened with the Catalan duel of the LEB Or between the ICG Força Lleida and the Bàsquet Girona, which was scheduled for Tuesday.
The NBA is no stranger to this resurgence of the health crisis, but it is working hard to save Christmas Day, one of the most notorious days of the year. “There are no plans to stop the season. Of course, we have analyzed all the options and frankly we are having trouble thinking about what the logic would be. As we study these cases that are literally sweeping the whole country and the rest of the world, I think “It’s a place where we knew we were going to be in the last few months. Adam Silver, NBA commissioner.
NBA Christmas promotion
The leader took advantage of an interview with Malika Andrews on ESPN to send a message of reassurance. The omicron variant is already the most dominant in the NBA, with more than 100 players following the covid-19 protocols. After postponing some games, the big short-term goal is to save the traditional day of Christmas Day. Positive franchises like the Boston Celtics, New York Knicks or Brooklyn Nets have forced leaders to have contingency plans in place. “It seems to us that what is right and responsible, taking into account all the factors, is to keep playing,” says Silver.
65% of NBA players have received the booster dose and 97% are vaccinated. The NBA rules out reducing the capacity of the public in the pavilions, but the competition must respect the rules of each state. The Toronto Raptors reduced capacity by 50% a few days ago, according to Ontario’s new terms. One of the problems the teams face is the difficulty in completing the calls; they don’t have enough healthy players. “We’re studying the number of days a vaccinated, asymptomatic player should be out of the game,” Silver said. The NBA and the players’ association, the NBPA, changed the rules and allowed franchises to hire a replacement for each player on their team who tested positive. Added to this is the fact that athletes with a contract with the linked teams will no longer have a limit on the number of games they can play in the NBA. These new regulations are causing the return of some veteran players.
This season’s Christmas Day includes well-selected matches to grab the attention of fans. The Lakers will play the Brooklyn Nets (2 p.m., #Vamos) in a showdown in which LeBron James can break some historic records. The star, for example, is just 13 points off the scoring record set by Kobe Bryant this Christmas. In addition, the Phoenix Suns and Stephen Curry’s Golden State Warriors, two of the teams fighting for the top spot in the Western Conference, will face off (11pm, #Vamos). The day is completed with the following games: New York Knicks – Atlanta Hawks (6pm), Milwaukee Bucks – Boston Celtics (8.30pm) and Utah Jazz – Dallas Mavericks (4.30pm). This match will have a Catalan presence, as Sergi Oliva is the assistant coach of the Salt Lake City franchise.
The players, anxious
Uncertainty distresses players. “The issue of covid has become quite complicated and needs to be managed as best it can. It is very hard to be in a hotel and when you leave you are told that you have to leave your companions confined there for ten days. The burden we carry is strong and the situation we are living in does not help us at all. We thought it was fixed, but uncertainty kills us. The NBA has done very well: it has pioneered and done things right, but now everything is out of control. We will have to learn to live with the virus “, explained Ricky Rubio, Cavs base, in an interview with RAC1.
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