Report: Thabo Sefolosha says some Rockets players had COVID-19

In comments to Swiss media, Sefolosha said some of his teammates had COVID-19, including one with whom he had been close in Houston.

Last Wednesday evening, news leaked that veteran Rockets forward Thabo Sefolosha would not be reporting to Florida for the NBA’s restart of the 2019-20 season. A reason was not given, and it came only hours after head coach Mike D’Antoni said that Houston expected a full roster.

On Sunday, his motivation appeared to become more clear.

Sefolosha, who hails from Switzerland, told Swiss media that some of his Rockets teammates had tested positive for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), including one with whom he had been close with for a few days in Houston. Sefolosha has a wife and two daughters, and an English translation of the report indicates that they factored into his decision.

Sefolosha will be replaced on Houston’s roster by veteran forward Luc Mbah a Moute, according to several media reports.

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For privacy reasons, Sefolosha did not identify any teammate with the virus. He also did not specify whether they had tested positive in the NBA’s current wave of testing, which began on June 23, or if those results came earlier. Virus cases have surged in Houston in recent weeks.

Per the terms of the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement, teams are not permitted to make any public comment on medical information relating to a player and COVID-19. When asked last Wednesday whether anyone on the team had tested positive, D’Antoni said:

We expect everyone to be there [in Orlando] We won’t get into specifics. We’re dealing with it like everyone else is dealing with it [COVID-19], but it shouldn’t affect us in Orlando.

Sefolosha’s comment is the first report since the NBA’s March 12 hiatus of any Rockets player testing positive for the virus. Whoever they are, D’Antoni’s quote indicates that the team’s current expectation is for them to play in Florida once the league resumes later this month.

Since the league’s official COVID-19 testing program began in home markets on June 23, the NBA’s latest update said that 25 players had tested positive. For medical privacy reasons, none were identified.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said on June 23 that one Western Conference playoff team had four players test positive in recent weeks. NBA guidelines call for those players to self-quarantine for at least 10 days, and they must test negative on multiple occasions to rejoin the team.

Robert Covington, Austin Rivers, and Eric Gordon participated in Zoom conference calls last week with Houston media members following their individual workouts at Toyota Center. James Harden has yet to meet with the media since workouts resumed, but a video emerged on June 26 of Harden riding around Houston in a Lamborghini with rapper Lil Baby.

The Rockets are scheduled to travel to the Florida “bubble” site this Thursday, July 9, with players required to test negative for the virus on one of two days prior to the flight. All NBA personnel who enter the Disney complex must then self-quarantine upon arrival for up to 48 hours and complete negative COVID-19 tests on two different days.

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Once that period elapses, teams will resume standard group practices, which haven’t occurred since the season was suspended in March. Current workouts are on an individual basis under distancing protocols.

If any Rockets player doesn’t test negative in the days prior to Thursday’s team charter, he can still travel by his own at a later date to join them in Orlando. However, he would need to register three consecutive negative tests before traveling, according to the league’s protocols.

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