NBA players who went abroad at the start of the league’s COVID-19 hiatus were supposed to have returned stateside to join their teams by June 15, according to The Athletic. One player who did not get the opportunity to do that is Denver Nuggets All-Star Nikola Jokic, and per a report, that’s because Jokic tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
Adrian Wojnarowski and Brian Windhorst of ESPN bring word that Jokic returned to Serbia, and last week, he was tested for the virus that has more than 9 million documented cases worldwide. In a bit of good news, Woj and Windy report that Jokic has been asymptomatic, and that the expectation is that he’ll get the green light to head to Denver soon.
Reporting with @WindhorstESPN: Nuggets star Nikola Jokic tested positive for the coronavirus in Serbia and his return to the U.S. is temporarily delayed. He’s been asymptomatic since testing positive last week. Jokic is expected to be cleared to travel to Denver within a week.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 23, 2020
It should be noted that timelines for recovery from COVID-19 vary from person to person, but hopefully Jokic will get the all clear as soon as possible. Earlier in the day, Wojnarowski reported that teams around the league are anticipating a number of positive cases to be identified, as clubs are going to begin testing their players as they begin to report to their home markets.
As The Athletic’s timeline for squads other than the Toronto Raptors laid out, teams will begin reporting to their practice facilities on July 1 and taking flights to Orlando, the site of the bubble league, beginning on July 7.
