Report: NBA Examining How To Replace Players With COVID-19, Injuries During Restart

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The NBA “is working on the mechanisms that will be used to replace participants in this season’s resumption in the event of positive coronavirus tests or serious injuries” during the league’s restart in Orlando, Florida, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Bobby Marks.

On June 4, the NBA Board of Governors approved a plan for restarting the season and sent it to the Players Association for their ratification.

The league and the NBA Players Association are currently negotiating terms to restart the season on July 31 with eight regular season games and a postseason at Disney World.

The NBA Board of Governors today approved a competitive format to restart the 2019-20 season with 22 teams returning to play and a tentative start date of Friday, July 31.

Full release: https://t.co/NYm89lLkX2

— NBA (@NBA) June 4, 2020

No NBA games have been played since the 2019-20 season was suspended on March 11 after Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert became the first player in the league to test positive for the coronavirus disease, COVID-19.

Sources told Wojnarowski and Marks that the NBA and its teams “are already discussing how teams will be able to utilize players on two-way contracts, a conversation revolving around safety, practicality and competition that will assuredly be a part of the ramp-up to restarting the season.”

ESPN story with @BobbyMarks42 on NBA's discussions about replacement players for 22-team Orlando rosters in the event of positive coronavirus tests and injuries: https://t.co/KVGq7IAoVg

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 7, 2020

According to ESPN’s report, if a player tests positive for COVID-19 or suffers a serious injury during training camps or the regular season’s final games, the league isn’t expected to place limits on the number of players an NBA team could sign to its roster to replace the player. Wojnarowski and Marks’ sources said that the pool of eligible players for addition to rosters would have restrictions.

“The league office has discussed the possibility with its teams that there could be a requirement that those players replaced for COVID-19 or injury would become ineligible to return for the balance of this season, sources said,” wrote Wojnarowski and Marks. “Front-office and union officials are expecting players who test positive to be quarantined for a minimum of seven days — and possibly 10 to 14 — based on several factors, sources told ESPN.”

The sources also said due to the advice from medical professionals, the NBA prefers to keep G League players on two-way contracts from playing in Orlando in an effort to limit roster expansion and the number of people at Disney World.

“Players will be tested for COVID-19 every night in the contained Orlando campus environment, with test results returning the next morning, sources said,” Wornarowski and Marks reported. “NBA teams will be contained to three specific hotels within the Disney complex, sources said.”

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• Avoid close contact with people who may be sick
• Avoid touching your face
• Stay home when you are sick
• Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue and then throw the tissue in the trash
• Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after going to the bathroom, before eating, and after blowing your nose, coughing or sneezing. Always wash your hands with soap and water if your hands are visibly dirty.
• If soap and water are not readily available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol.

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Additional Resources

If you see evidence of PRICE GOUGING, the Utah Attorney General’s Office wants you to report it. Common items in question include toilet paper, water, hand sanitizer, certain household cleaners, and even cold medicine and baby formula. Authorities are asking anyone who sees price gouging to report it to the Utah Division of Consumer Protection at 801-530-6601 or 800-721-7233. The division can also be reached by email at consumerprotection@utah.gov.