More NBA games called off as contact tracing probes continue

COVID-19 didn’t keep Miami center Bam Adebayo out of any games last season, even though he tested positive for the virus not long before the NBA’S restart bubble opened.

He missed two games last week because of the virus — without having the virus.

Adebayo is one of many players sidelined at some point in recent weeks by contact tracing, the method of figuring out who may have possibly been exposed to a person who has tested positive for COVID-19. It has been a major factor in the decisions to postpone 20 games so far this season, including the latest three Memphis Grizzlies’ games that the league decided Thursday to push back.

“As much as we may complain about it, it’s only for our own benefit,” Washington’s Bradley Beal said.

Beal missed a Jan. 9 game while going through contact tracing, a process in which the NBA and its teams take a deep dive into who people have been around over a two-day period once someone tests positive.

Everything is examined — who might have shared a car ride with whom, who sat where on the team plane, who had dinner with others and what their whereabouts have been. Even the cameras that have been used for advanced stat tracking during games are utilized, just to see how long one player may have been in close proximity of someone else during a game.