Positive test keeps Houston’s Westbrook out of NBA bubble

LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLA. » Houston’s Russell Westbrook hasn’t made it to the NBA restart yet.

The coronavirus did — but health protocols seemed to work as the league and its players hoped they would.

On a day of troubling news for the league — Westbrook revealing that he has tested positive for the virus and two other players facing 10day quarantines for leaving the league campus perimeter at Walt Disney World — it was also announced that two players tested positive for the virus after arriving in Central Florida last week.

But neither of those positive players ever made it out of quarantine, so neither entered the so-called bubble and could mingle freely with other players, coaches and staff. The NBA said both players, neither of whom were identified, “have since left the Campus to isolate at home or in isolation housing.” They could rejoin their teams later.

“Our protocols are unbelievable,” said Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry, one of the players who helped craft the restart rules. “I think our protocols and our health and safety measures have been top-notch. I think this thing will work perfectly . ... We’re doing everything that we can possibly do to make sure that we’re healthy, we’re safe and we’re in an environment where we can be successful and do our jobs at a high level.”

It’s unclear when Westbrook will arrive. As recently as Sunday, the Rockets believed that Westbrook, NBA scoring leader James Harden and newly re-acquired Luc Mbah a Moute — none of the three traveled with the team to Walt Disney World near Orlando last week — would be with the team in the next few days.

In Westbrook’s case, that now seems most unlikely.

“I tested positive for covid-19 prior to my teams departure to Orlando,” Westbrook wrote on his social media channels. “I’m currently feeling well, quarantined, and looking forward to rejoining my teammates when I am cleared.”

The arrival dates for Harden and Mbah a Moute are murky as well. Neither player has revealed why they aren’t at Disney, and Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni would only say that “these are things that people are dealing with.”