It’s been a while since we’ve talked about the possibilities of a player contracting the coronavirus between now and when the NBA comes back later this summer, but most of the important stakeholders who have spoken out about the NBA’s return has spoken more about mitigating risk rather than eliminating it altogether. But on Sunday, NBPA executive director Michele Roberts stated uncomfortable truths about the NBA’s likely return in Florida, that it’s highly likely a player tests positive for COVID-19, in an interview with Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe.
“That’s the only realistic mind-set you can have going into this. A player is going to test positive,” Roberts said. “It’s not any more of this ‘if’, it’s ‘when’ and what can I do to mitigate against the ‘when.’ When it happens, if I’m not successful, what treatment is available to me, what are my chances of being really, really sick, and how are you detecting the presence of an infection?”
Roberts and the players have been concerned about making sure testing protocols are in place. The NBA told teams over the weekend that they will be allowed test players who are asymptomatic and that they will be testing players every other day once they arrive at the Walt Disney World campus.
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