Safety protocols hit home
Nurse, most of his staff and Siakam forced to miss Friday’s game
The NBA’s extensive and ubiquitous health and safety protocols caught up with the Raptors in a big way on Friday.
Head coach Nick Nurse, five members of his coaching staff and star forward Pascal Siakam were forced to miss Friday night’s game with the Houston Rockets in Tampa, Fla., because of health concerns surrounding the league’s battle against the coronavirus.
Raptors general manager Bobby Webster would not say how long any of the coaches or Siakam would be unavailable, citing privacy concerns. Nor would he say whether there were positive test results or if personnel were being held out because of contact tracing protocols or inconclusive tests.
It was also unclear whether Siakam’s absence, announced hours after the coaching news broke, was related.
“Obviously, the NBA is being extremely careful here,” Webster said before the game. “It’s early in what’s going on here, so I think we’re all being conscientious and not taking any risks, so I think that’s more of what’s going on. But … we’ll see what tomorrow brings us, as we’re all diligently getting tested and awaiting the results every day.”
Sergio Scariolo, who just cleared the NBA’s quarantine program Friday morning after returning from a stint coaching the Spanish national team last weekend, was the acting head coach Friday night.
And Raptors leader Kyle Lowry made sure Scariolo got the game ball after his first NBA win, 122-111 over the Rockets.
“Kyle is always extremely attentive to those details, the little things which really make a difference to make a team feel like a family, a group of people who are really taking care for each other and I really appreciate that,” the coach said.
“I will keep that basketball very close to other basketballs that my players give to me after a medal or a championship or whatever. It’s going to be really top, even if it’s not (a) championship basketball. It’s going to be top in my priority, my window, when I will be able to create a little museum of all my stuff.”
Scariolo was joined on the front row by assistant coaches Jim Sann, Mark Tyndale and Jamaal Magloire.
Absent from the coaching ranks, along with Nurse, were Adrian Griffin, Jama Mahlalela, Jon Goodwillie, John Corbacio and Fabulous Flournoy.
The decision to play the game rested with the NBA, Webster said. “The NBA is looking out for the best interests of both teams and … obviously we have to trust and have a high degree of comfort that they’re making a decision,” he said. “They’re not exposing us, they’re not exposing the other team and they’re playing it safe as well.”
The Raptors have been one of just four teams to escape any significant issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic this season. No player or coach had missed a game before Friday, and they have not had a game postponed.
Scariolo, who had been away for EuroBasket qualifying, was the clear choice to fill in, Webster said.
“Not a difficult decision,” the GM said. “Probably more of a difficult decision to figure out who’s left, who’s around him, what’s the game plan, substitution patterns and all of that. But designating Sergio was not a difficult decision for us.”