NBA, MLB and PGA Tour players test positive

The list of elite athletes contracting the new coronavirus is growing longer. In the words of PGA Tour player Graeme McDowell, “The snowball is getting a little bit bigger.”

Sacramento Kings forward Jabari Parker and center Alex Len and Indiana Pacers guard Malcolm Brogdon each revealed Wednesday that they have tested positive for the coronavirus, although all said they plan to be recovered and with their teams next month in Florida when the

NBA is scheduled to resume.

“I am progressing in my recovery and feeling well,” Parker said in a statement released by the Kings. “I look forward to joining my teammates in Orlando as we return to the court for the resumption of the NBA season.”

AllStar outfielder Charlie Blackmon of the Colorado Rockies has become the first Major League Baseball player known to have tested positive for the coronavirus, and two more Rockies are also said to be positive.

On the PGA Tour, McDowell, Brooks Koepka and Webb Simpson were among five players who withdrew from the Travelers Championship, four of them out of a chain reaction of caution.

McDowell and Koepka withdrew after their caddies tested positive; Koepka’s brother and practice partner Chase Koepka also withdrew. Sacramento native Cameron Champ tested positive and also withdrew.

Simpson, who won the RBC Heritage on Sunday with a record score that moved him to No. 5 in the world, withdrew when he learned a family member had tested positive.

“I think we all need to remind ourselves that we’re all learning to live with this virus,” PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan said. “It’s pretty clear that this virus isn’t going anywhere.”

Monahan said the tour would continue, and that there was no set number of positive tests that would lead to golf shutting down again.

The New York City Marathon (Nov. 1) and Berlin Marathon (Sept. 27) were canceled because of the pandemic.