JANUARY 14: Pierce is no longer in isolation, Spencer tweets. He has been cleared by the NBA’s medical staff and can travel with the team to Utah.
JANUARY 13: Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce is remaining isolated in a Phoenix hotel room after a member of the team’s traveling party tested positive for COVID-19, a source tells Sarah K. Spencer of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She adds that the positive test didn’t involve a player, but several other Hawks personnel are isolating.
Everyone traveling with the team is tested daily, and Pierce tested negative Wednesday morning, Spencer writes. He is waiting for direction from the NBA’s medical staff and hasn’t been told how long he needs to isolate.
“I think I’m fine. I’ll be fine. I tested negative,” he said. “I’m absolutely fine, but I’ll adhere to whatever comes my way, whenever I find that information.”
Atlanta’s game with the Suns tonight was postponed because league health and safety protocols left Phoenix without enough available players. The Hawks are scheduled to leave tomorrow for Friday’s game at Utah, and Pierce told Spencer he expects to accompany the team. He said players will have to continue to adjust to sudden schedule changes.
“It’s an unfortunate situation for the game, it’s an unfortunate situation across the league,” Pierce said. “I think for us, more than anything, it’s just making sure the guys can get on the court and get some work in. This whole season, the court time is limited. So we can’t afford to lose court time just because a game has been postponed, because that just sets us back even further.”
Advice from one Lloyd to another…”serenity now”
I was really hoping the headline was “Hawks fire Lloyd Pierce”