In- game positive challenges protocols
In the latest challenge for a major North American sports league trying to navigate the pandemic, the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers remained in New York on Friday to undergo contact tracing and coronavirus testing after one of their players learned during a game against the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday night that he had tested positive.
The positive test result was returned while the player, Seth Curry, was on the Sixers’ bench during the first half of their loss to the Nets at Barclays Center. The game was allowed to continue, raising questions about the league’s health and safety protocols as it plays without the restricted setup it used to finish last season in Florida.
The Sixers lost, 122- 109, and a full evaluation to determine whether Curry had been in close contact with any Sixers players or staff members began in earnest the next morning — after the Nets had flown to Memphis for their next game.
The fate of Philadelphia’s home game Saturday against Denver was not immediately clear late Friday. A league spokesperson said that there had been no changes made to the schedule.
Curry, held out of Thursday’s game with an ankle injury, was removed from the Sixers’ bench and placed in isolation after being notified of the positive test during the first half, according to two people familiar with the circumstances who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the details publicly.
Major League Baseball faced a similar challenge in Game 6 of the World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Tampa Bay Rays in October. Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner learned during the seventh inning that he had tested positive and was pulled from the game before the start of the eighth inning. The game was not stopped then, either, and Turner later apologized for returning to the field to celebrate.
On Thursday, Curry had taken two daily coronavirus tests as required by the NBA’s health and safety protocols — one rapid test and one polymerase chain reaction test. The rapid test came up as negative, allowing Curry to be on the bench with a mask, according to one source. The 76ers then received the result of Curry’s PCR test and took him to an isolated room at Barclays Arena as play continued. He left separately from the rest of the team.
The Nets played the Grizzlies on Friday night. Brooklyn coach Steve Nash said his team wasn’t aware of Curry’s test result while playing the Sixers.
Curry was seated on the front row of Philadelphia’s bench in the first quarter against the Nets in street clothes, with assistant coach Sam Cassell to his right and, for portions of the quarter, Philadelphia’s star centre Joel Embiid to his left.
The Washington Wizards, who played Philadelphia on Wednesday night, faced the Celtics in Boston on Friday after the Celtics announced three rotation players — Tristan Thompson, Grant Williams and Robert Williams III — would miss that game because of possible exposure to the coronavirus. Other top players have also been in quarantine, including Kevin Durant of the Nets, despite not reporting a positive coronavirus test. Dallas Mavericks players Jalen Brunson, Josh Richardson and Dorian Finney- Smith are listed as out for the team's next game because of health and safety protocols related to COVID- 19.