Washington Wizards Returned to Court Since Covid Scare

Previously, Washington Wizards was down six players due to Covid 19 when they tested positive for the virus. Following that, three more players gave up their days too due to contact tracing. It was expected that the Wizards would not make a comeback soon, but they did last Sunday.

At San Antonio, the NBA pro team played their first game since their 13 day period of leave.

As for the Memphis Grizzlies, they are not due to play any game until next Saturday, according to sources. The NBA also called off another match. This is the 21^st match postponement recorded this season; the last one was on January 10, 2021.

According to the original schedule, Memphis was going to play on Sunday and Monday at their home field, facing Sacramento. However, that was called off and so is the one on Wednesday against Chicago.

Sources close to the NBA stated that the reason for the latest postponement is due to the concern of contact tracing within the team. This marks their sixth postponement meeting the highest count alongside the previous record holders of this, the Wizards.

Reportedly, Scott Brooks, the Washington Wizards coach stated that this measure will be one challenge for his team. However, he assures that the team would play again, which is better than losing the entire season. He further spoke his relief and happiness at the second opportunity. Also, he hopes such a situation would not repeat again.

Memphis, on the other hand, would possibly play again in San Antonio on Saturday. In NBA season, the teams need to complete a whole 72-game schedule. Due to having six fewer games in the first half, both these teams need to play in 41 games over 67 days to match the expected schedule.

Furthermore, the National Basketball Players Association and the NBA are set to confer on the protocols underway sometime this week. They would decide whether the more rigid rules placed since January 12 need updating, and how to make them less constrained.

The original aim of this was to moderate the traveling plans for the players to only extend to practices, games, and workouts. This came into play since the Covid-19-related situations began escalating in the league.

At least 16% of the league, which averages at 75 players, have suffered suspensions this season. The types of injuries correspond with the health and safety guidelines of the league. The protocol-recognized causes include positive testing of the virus, contact tracing for players who may have contracted it, and inconclusive tested.

A lot of the NBA players have already missed 10 games this season. Some notable mentions include Chandler Hutchison and Tomas Satoransky from Chicago and Michael Porter Jr. from Denver.

Jayson Tatum (Boston), Karl-Anthony Towns (Minnesota), and Jimmy Butler (Miami) also cannot play currently due to this virus.

In total, 23 teams have gotten at least one of their games postponed in this NBA season. The only ones who did not include Toronto, New York, Brooklyn, San Antonio, Denver, the Los Angeles Lakers, and the Los Angeles Clippers.

Possibly, the postponed games will fall under the season’s second half, between March 11 and May 16. Before getting a chance to play, all players would undergo tests like cardiac tests and more.