Teams struggling with COVID-related issues
The NBA called off two more games because of COVID-related and contact-tracing issues on Monday, and the Miami Heat was preparing to be without as many as eight players — including All-Stars Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo — for several days because of possible exposure to the coronavirus.
Monday’s game in Dallas between the Mavericks and the New Orleans Pelicans was postponed by the league, as well as tonight’s matchup in Chicago between the Bulls and Boston Celtics. The league’s general managers met Monday to discuss the virus situation, with involvement from the National Basketball Players Association. The NBA’s board of governors will meet today.
The latest postponements come one day after the Heat’s game against the Celtics in Boston was called off because of contact-tracing issues within the Heat. The Celtics would have been without seven players for virus-related issues for that game. The Heat’s Avery Bradley, who didn’t play in the NBA’s restart bubble last season out of concern about exposure to the virus, was also ruled out of that game because of the protocols.
Added to the Heat list following contact tracing: Butler, Adebayo, Goran Dragic, Moe Harkless, Udonis Haslem, Kendrick Nunn and KZ Okpala. That doesn’t mean any tested positive, but that tracing showed they might have been exposed to a positive person — and that could sideline them for seven days or more.
Another three Heat players are on the injury list, raising the question if they will have the eight required to start games.
The Heat players were flying from Boston to Philadelphia on Monday night in advance of a game there today, but another flight was scheduled to send those who need to be quarantined home.
“Definitely been a unique start to the year,” Heat guard Duncan Robinson said Monday on Reddit. “Been different challenges with all the protocols and new norms. I think the general sentiment is that everyone wants to play but also everyone wants to be safe first.”
The Mavericks — who were without starters Josh Richardson, Portsmouth native Dorian FinneySmith and backup Jalen Brunson on Saturday because of virus issues — didn’t have enough players cleared to play Monday because the contact-tracing process was still ongoing.
Contact tracing within the NBA has gotten much more high-tech in recent days, with a new requirement that everyone within the travel parties wear an electronic device that tracks their proximity to one another. The data from those devices is part of the determination as to whether a player needs to quarantine because of possible exposure.
The two new postponements means four games so far have been called off due to virus-related matters. The 76ers played at home against the Nuggets on Saturday with seven players — eight were available — because of a combination of virus issues and injuries. The NBA also fined the 76ers $25,000 on Monday for not properly disclosing that Ben Simmons would miss that game with an injury.
The first game postponed this season was the Dec. 23 matchup between the Thunder and Rockets. The NBA said Sunday night that the league anticipated there would be issues and has no plans to pause the season because of the current issues some teams are facing.
“It is an awful world right now,” Nets coach Steve Nash said. “We’re all facing this, whether you’re an NBA team player, organization, front office or you’re somebody that doesn’t work in the industry. It’s an awful world, a scary world. we’re losing lives every single day in big numbers. So, I think the league’s doing the best we can. I think we’re trying our best to get through the season, but I think we have to be ready for everything and I think we’re all concerned.”