An NBA season that began under the threat of COVID-19 appears to be ending the same way. In addition to Thanasis Antetokounmpo, who has been ruled out of tonight’s Game 5 after being placed in health and safety protocols, the Bucks will be without assistant coach Josh Oppenheimer, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
This will be the third straight game that Oppenheimer has been forced to miss, Wojnarowski adds (Twitter link), but there’s hope he may be back for Game 6 (Twitter link).
The virus has also impacted the officiating crew for tonight, as the league announced (via Twitter) that referee Sean Wright has been placed in health and safety protocols. James Williams will take his place.
There has been growing concern that the league wouldn’t be able to crown a champion without COVID-19 becoming a factor again, writes Sam Amick of The Athletic. Cases are rising across the country, and the sports world is feeling the effects. Bradley Beal had to leave the U.S. Olympic team this week and Jerami Grant‘s status is uncertain as he remains in the health and safety protocols.
Amick points out that the league has taken great precautions since the season started in December to minimize the effects of the virus. Testing has been constant for players, coaches and staff members, and some teams have been shut down for a week or more after recording multiple positive tests.
“There’s a real push to stay safe, to stay healthy, to be vigilant,” Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said before today’s cases were reported. “Both teams, we’re very, very close to the finish. We’re excited about finishing this strong.”
There have been recent changes throughout the NBA landscape, Amick adds. Masks are once again required for media members after those policies had been relaxed, and staff members are being asked to stay away from public settings as much as possible. Suns guard Devin Booker told Amick that most players are choosing to stay inside and avoid potential risks.
Teammate Chris Paul had to sit out the first two games of the Western Conference Finals after returning a positive test. He’s concerned about his family in the Los Angeles area, which has experienced a recent surge in the virus.
“I pay close attention to it,” he said. “I have family just like everybody else. My parents (are) traveling to Milwaukee (for games), coming to this game (in Phoenix). My kids. L.A. just put a new mandate in where you wear a mask inside. My family is there. I pay attention to it just like everybody else. Try to control what I can control. Stay in the moment with the Finals, but health is a huge concern, not just for my family but for everybody.”
giannis has no energy at all, a sign of being sick? questions.
He had enough to score 32 points, I’m sure they’ll take it. Phoenix loses again.
He has energy on this play
Final minute
Holiday steals the ball from Booker, then pass it to Giannis for a dunk, and was pushed by Paul
AND bookers allowed to hug players in the last minutes of a game?
There is a new covid variant spreading that is more contagious. The thing is not going away. Vaccines help. The nonvaccinated hurt everyone.
Vaccines don’t help to not get no virus, that is for sure!
Yeah El Don? And you’re basing this statement on what?
Maybe there is a vaccine for the inability to speak English competently which could help El Don.
It’s his second language.
Why do people think that is a good excuse? If you can’t speak a language correctly, then it is not your second language. It is one of many languages that you don’t actually know.
That being said, I applaud anyone for having the guts to talk on a site where it is not their first language. It has to be terrifying.
“don’t help to not get no” is a mind scrambler.
@nosoupforyou… I don’t know ’bout you, but I can tell you that when I got my 2 shots, they told me that I had as much a chance to catch the virus than if I was not vaccinated… the only small advantage seems to be that if you were to be a rare case of severe illness it will make it lighter, but it won’t stop you catchin’ it… ya know, right?
BTW as y’all seem sooo interested English is my 3rd language, not 2nd… how ’bout that?
Of course the chance of the virus entering your body is the same. It’s not like the vaccine blocks off your nostrils or prevents you from breathing air. But if/when the virus is inside you, the vaccine does prevent you from getting any symptoms, or lessen the severity of them. It shows your body how to react in order to fight it off, oftentimes without the person even knowing it.
We are interested because you often make zero sense. How bout that? I also speak three languages and suck at two of them. It is what it is.
It’s as if people don’t read. The vaccines do not prevent the spread of Covid. Read the literature on their respective websites. They are designed to limit the symptoms. The creators of the vaccines never claimed they would stop transmission.
No one can definitively claim one way or the other as to whether the vaccine prevents transmission. Not enough time has gone bye to make conclusions from research. So it’s possible the vaccine does prevent transmission; it’s also possible the vaccine does not prevent transmission. No one knows yet. Unless there was a breakthrough I’m unaware of.
Depends on the variant; there is not going to be any precision; our bodies are huge breeding grounds.
Don the unvacced weakens the herd, whether they get sick or not. You can still carry. It’s about the herd and the herd is the people.
And it’s up to the people… There is no one command & control and if there was, I would expect more lies, like how it started.
Why not name it after Wuhan? We’re up to about Wuhan-4.0 now… better than “delta variant”. What’s next, epsilon variant? Oooo look out for those greek variants. It’s the Greek Freak era.
In the long run, the vacs are short term cover until our bodies address the invaders successfully without so much external help. Not sure the CDC & WHO are up to that, as they are invested in the external help. Kids have to go back to school and trade cooties and their bodies will address it without panic and supply antibodies that stick to the antigens and the memory cells breathe out the story. Many scientists do not believe this happens but something natural happens, as we did not used to have scientists but still survived. Truth is what we know so far.
Rambling, sorry
Good points, as usual!
Suns got screwed with the calls in game 5 and shoulda won the game! Refs messed up a few times for each team!