The NBA bubble has gotten off to an almost ideal start, with just a pair of positive tests (both caught in the quarantine stage) in the first round of testing and the second round of testing yielded zero positives. It’s a testament to the league’s plan and protocols, but it is something that will require the same vigilance for the next three months as they look to complete the season.
This weekend will provide even more data as far as how the league’s plan is working, as Zion Williamson re-entered the bubble from an excused absence and is back in quarantine, while Lou Williams will enter a 10-day quarantine after he went to Magic City for chicken wings while on an excused absence in Atlanta. How the league re-integrates players safely into the bubble is critical for its success, and we’ll get two big tests of that with Williams and Williamson.
Meanwhile, in the bubble, the league also has to keep leaning on players to do the right thing and remind them of the consequences of not doing so. On Sunday, we learned that Kristaps Porzingis forgot to get his daily COVID-19 test yesterday and is, as such, not playing in the Mavs scrimmage.
Porzingis will not play today because he forgot to get tested yesterday.
— Dwain Price (@DwainPrice) July 26, 2020
Rachel Nichols offered a little more detail, noting that Porzingis failed to stop by the nurses’ station in the bubble for his daily test yesterday and, as such, is in a one-day quarantine until he returns a negative test.
Kristaps Porzingis is the latest player who forgot to stop by the nurses station for his daily COVID test here in the bubble. He is now doing the mandatory one-day quarantine until his next negative test result comes back, and will miss today’s Mavericks game.
— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) July 26, 2020
Porzingis isn’t the first to have this happen — Paul Millsap had a similar situation recently — and it happening in the scrimmage portion of the restart isn’t a really big deal. Still, this should serve as a friendly reminder to players that they have to be diligent about getting their daily test once the season begins, because missing a game that counts because you forgot to get tested would be rather embarrassing (and, potentially, costly to your team).
