After placing forward Ignas Brazdeikis in the health and safety protocols on Thursday evening, the Magic canceled their morning shootaround and have had three more players enter the protocols today, per Khobi Price of The Orlando Sentinel (Twitter links). A source tells Price that Terrence Ross, Moritz Wagner, and R.J. Hampton have joined Brazdeikis in the protocols and will be out on Friday vs. Miami.
Since vaccinated players haven’t been required to undergo daily testing for COVID-19 this season, those players have only been tested when they show symptoms of the virus or when they’ve been in close contact with someone who has tested positive. If Brazdeikis tested positive on Thursday, it likely prompted a round of testing for the entire roster.
Assuming Brazdeikis, Ross, Wagner, and Hampton have tested positive for the coronavirus, they’ll be out for the next 10 days or until they register two consecutive negative tests at least 24 hours apart.
Orlando becomes the seventh team to have at least four players currently in the health and safety protocols, joining the Nets, Bulls, Lakers, Bucks, Knicks, and Kings. Orlando is also missing several players due to longer-term injuries, including Jalen Suggs, Markelle Fultz, Jonathan Isaac, Michael Carter-Williams, and E’Twaun Moore, raising questions about whether tonight’s game vs. the Heat may need to be postponed.
It’s possible the Magic will have the minimum number of players available, but their current group of eight players includes Cole Anthony, Mohamed Bamba, and Gary Harris, all of whom are listed as questionable due to various ailments. Although the team is eligible to sign multiple free agents via the hardship exception, there may not be time before tip-off on Friday night to incorporate any new players.
Meanwhile, over in the Western Conference, Nuggets forward Bol Bol has reentered the health and safety protocols, according to Mike Singer of The Denver Post (Twitter link). Bol spent several days in the protocols earlier this month.
They should just do a two week league quarantine.
Agreed. Instituting the strict new protocols all of a sudden isn’t going to do anything to stop the residual effects of the league-wide spread. The NBA just needs a temporary reset
Unless the league goes back to a bubble and isolate all players in one compound, never going to happen, their “new protocols” aren’t going to do much. Health guidelines suggest getting tested 3-5 days after known exposure. Daily testing is going to miss ppl infected and itll still spread.
Man Kyrie Irving is probably laughing his butt off right now while getting half his pay check not having to deal with this.
So, vaccinated asymptomatic players are cutting to the basket – be it on backdoor cuts or via P&R – and spreading covid to vaccinated helpside defenders, but nobody knows anyone is actually infected until some of them are symptomatic and then tested…
Shut it all down for a couple weeks after the Christmas Day games.