Toronto Star

Blueprint includes expanded testing

As season set to begin, league issues protocols for health and safety

- TIM REYNOLDS

NBA players who test positive for the coronaviru­s this coming season may have to miss nearly two weeks in some instances before being allowed to return to the court, the league told teams Saturday.

That revelation was one of many in a 63,000-word document, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, that explained some of the health and safety protocols for the looming season. Pre-season games begin Dec.11and regularsea­son contests start Dec. 22.

The document still needs to be ratified by the league and the National Basketball Players Associatio­n, but at least provides some sort of blueprint for the start of training camps in the coming days. All players who will be part of camp need to begin a testing program by Monday — many were expected to start it Saturday — and teams can begin holding mandated group workouts some time between Dec. 4 and 6.

Players, coaches and other key staff are expected to be tested daily in most cases.

The league, in a separate memo, also told teams that even with the detailed prevention and mitigation strategies “it is likely that some staff, players and other participan­ts in the 2020-21season nonetheles­s will contract COVID-19.”

The league urged teams to have plans ready to assist visiting team personnel or referees who happen to test positive away from their home cities, such as directing them toward isolation accommodat­ions if necessary and to assist with that person’s care while recovering.

“The NBA wouldn’t have put this plan together and we wouldn’t have agreed to it if it wasn’t safe,” Utah guard Donovan Mitchell said Friday, before the protocols were given to teams. “We did a great job with the bubble and we’ll do what we

feel is safe, the PA and the NBA.”

Mitchell — who tested positive for the virus shortly after the league suspended play last season on March 11, after Jazz teammate Rudy Gobert was the first NBA player known to have contracted COVID-19 — also said that he expects players to take the virus very seriously, especially since a positive test almost certainly would sideline someone for several games.

“This isn’t football, where you play once a week,” Mitchell said. “We’re playing twice, three, maybe four times a week, so you’ve got to be careful, you’ve got to be cautious.”

There are two methods by which a player can return to play after a positive coronaviru­s test: one is a test-based resolution, in which an infected individual has at least two consecutiv­e negative PCR test results. The other is time-based, where a player would have to isolate, rest and avoid workouts for at least 10 days and then spend at least two more days training in isolation. He would also have to undergo cardiac screening before being cleared to return.

The league is still working with the union on specific protocols for life on the road, saying it wants to find ways to “promote more controlled environmen­ts and reduce non-essential interactio­ns.” Teams will be urged to work with hotel vendors on best practices, such as face mask usage and physical distancing, especially by people who are not part of a team’s travel party — which will be capped at 45, including players, coaches and staff.

There is a possibilit­y that the league will have teams travel with someone whose specific task is to handle testing on the road. Those people — it may be one, it may be two — would not count toward the 45-person total.

 ??  ?? Utah guard Donovan Mitchell is confident players will be safe from COVID-19.
Utah guard Donovan Mitchell is confident players will be safe from COVID-19.

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