Players, staff advised to self-isolate
Fans in contact with any team personnel this week asked to be extra vigilant
TORONTO — As the National Basketball Association wrestles with ways to salvage the rest of a season laid to waste by the coronavirus pandemic, the Toronto Raptors remain in limbo, waiting for results of tests to see how many, if any, have contracted the rampaging disease.
The league as a whole is trying to come to grips with how to make the most of an unprecedented global health crisis that has gripped every segment of society.
With the regular season on hiatus for an unspecified period, the league must decide whether a definitive suspension of games — perhaps a month or five weeks — can be put in place or whether the situation is even too fluid for that.
Extending the season long into the summer would wreak havoc on such things as the Olympics, if they are ultimately held, or the league’s free agency and Summer League season, but it would provide some kind of hard deadline for another decision.
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said Thursday morning he could see the season extending into August, and other league sources suggested commissioner Adam Silver might wait 30 days to see where the ever-changing issue is before making any definitive decision.
The nature of the disease and its hopeful containment — and its precarious hold on society — makes any definitive move impossible to contemplate. Things have changing almost hourly.
The Raptors were tested after Utah’s Rudy Gobert became the first NBA player to be diagnosed with the coronavirus Wednesday night. A second Jazz player, guard Donovan Mitchell, also tested positive, league sources told ESPN. The Raptors, who had played Monday in Salt Lake City, won’t have a public statement until results of their tests are known.
Team members took part in two public events on Wednesday
night: the launch of coach Nick Nurse’s charitable foundation at a toney lakefront hotel and a bowling event hosted by Norm Powell for Big Sisters and Big Brothers.
The team said in a statement Thursday morning that it advised members of the public to be diligent in watching for signs of coronavirus.
“According to Toronto Public Health, being in close contact with someone who does not have COVID-19, but was exposed to someone with COVID-19, does not constitute a risk for getting COVID-19 and does not require public health follow up,” the morning statement said.
“People who attended these events should continue to monitor their health, practice social distancing and hand washing, and contact a health professional should they develop symptoms.”
Gobert, who made light of precautionary measure to insulate members of the media from NBA players earlier this week by rubbing his hands over microphones as he ended a media session, apologized for his inappropriate actions in an Instagram post Thursday.
“The first and most important thing is I would like to publicly apologize to the people that I may have endangered,” the post said. “At the time, I had no idea I was even infected. I was careless and make no excuse. I hope my story serves as a warning and causes everyone to take this seriously.”
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said on his Twitter feed Thursday that “Jazz players privately say that Rudy Gobert has been careless in the locker-room touching other players and their belongings.”
Every member of the Jazz travelling party was tested after the suspended game in Oklahoma City on Wednesday night and stayed in the city until Thursday morning when test results were available. Mitchell, via his social media feed, confirmed his positive test and lashed out.
“We are all learning more about the seriousness of this situation and hopefully people can continue to educate themselves and realize that they need to behave responsibly both for their own health and for the well being of those around them,” Mitchell said.
The Raptors have one of the largest travelling parties in the NBA. A routine regular-season trip often comprises more than 50 people, including players, head coach Nick Nurse, his three main assistants and four additional coaches along with medical and training staff members, video assistants, a couple of members of the media relations team and employees who take care of equipment and travel needs. Broadcasters from both networks that do games, radio personalities and the team’s in-house media members are also among those on the charter. Each of them will be under the two-week selfisolation decree, which the team said “means minimizing contact in accordance with public health guidelines.”
Independent media that covers the team daily on the road, as The Star does, do not travel or stay with the team and are not considered part of the travelling party.
“Our players, coaches and travelling staff have all been advised to go into self-isolation for 14 days, which means minimizing contact in accordance with public health guidelines,” the team’s statement said. “Our team doctors remain in communication with infection control specialists and public health authorities, and we will continue to abide by their advice.”