OKC Thunder: Pre-bubble testing proves to be wise decision
Western Teams:
The nine Western Conference teams attending Orlando are a little more difficult to nail down. That’s because there was a report of one “Western playoff squad’ having four players test positive. Presumably, we can eliminate the Lakers, Clippers, Nuggets, Jazz, Rockets, Kings, and Suns because they either noted specific players or advised of positive tests.
Again, the OKC Thunder stated on three different occasions no one has tested positive so we’ll add them to that list.
Here’s what we know about the nine teams and how coronavirus has affected them:
- Two unnamed Lakers players tested positive.
- Clippers sniper Landry Shamet tested positive and they were one of seven teams to close their practice facilities.
- Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic and head coach Mike Malone tested positive. Denver also closed their facilities after three members of their traveling party tested positive.
- NBA patient zero Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell were the players on the Utah Jazz to test positive
- OKC Thunder – NONE
- The big news this week was former OKC Thunder franchise superstar Russell Westbrook tested positive. The Rockets say James Harden is healthy but his absence from the bubble raised questions.
- Kings players Buddy Hield, Alex Len, and Jabari Parker as well as yesterday’s newest announcement of Harrison Barnes (who remained behind when the team traveled to Orlando) all tested positive. Sacramento was one of the seven teams who closed their practice facilities.
- Pelicans reported three players tested positive.
- Two unnamed Suns players tested positive and Phoenix was one of the seven teams to close their practice facility.
Of the 13 Western teams in Orlando aside from the OKC Thunder, four others have never announced any positive results including the Mavericks, Grizzlies, Spurs, and Blazers. That would lead us to believe that one of the Mavericks or Grizzlies could be the team that produced four positive results since the announcement said a ‘current Western playoff team’. If not, the other implication is one of the eight Western teams who did have players contract the virus was the team and simply didn’t want to confirm it was their team.
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That the NBA had only two players produce positive results of the 322 tested is a positive sign for the NBA pre-bubble protocol that was put in place. Clearly, testing in the days leading up to departure allowed teams to isolate who had the virus and immediately put them in quarantine.
What is known, is Michael Beasley was one of the two players who tested positive. Beasley was tapped by the Brooklyn Nets to fill in one of their open spots. He’s left Orlando and will go into quarantine back at his home base. It’s unknown who the other player is or which team produced the other positive test. It would require a major sleuth to dig up practice film from every team in order to isolate which player is missing.
Another keynote is it’s unlikely the NBA or teams would hold back reporting if any of their staff tested positive so that would increase the total substantially given each team could bring 35 members to the bubble.
The other noteworthy news is two players are currently experiencing additional quarantine based on poor decisions. The Rockets Bruno Caboclo and Kings Richaun Holmes defied the protocol and subsequently will be in quarantine an additional eight days and have to undergo the deeper nasal swab test prior to their release into the bubble. Caboclo left his room during the initial quarantine period and Holmes stepped off the premises to grab food delivery. Both infractions defied safety protocols.
While anyone can make a mistake it’s unlikely any OKC Thunder players would fall prey to making that sort of error. Not when Chris Paul is leading the squad and is the president of the NBPA. Several players have stated Paul kept them fully apprised of what was happening throughout the process of designing the restart plan. No doubt, CP3 will use Holmes and Caboclo as examples to remind his teammates why it’s essential to follow the rules in place.