For the second day in a row, a member of the group the United States plans to send to Tokyo to participate in the Summer Olympics has been placed in health and safety protocols due to a COVID-19 scare. Bradley Beal received word of his need to enter the protocols during his stint in Las Vegas with Team USA on Wednesday, and on Thursday, Jerami Grant learned he’ll have to do the same.
The news was broken by Shams Charania and Joe Vardon of The Athletic. While there is no word about how this impacts his availability for the Olympics, Charania did note that Grant did not test positive for the novel coronavirus.
Team USA's Jerami Grant has entered health and safety protocols at Team USA camp, sources tell me and @joevardon. Grant has not tested positive for coronavirus. He and Bradley Beal are in protocols in Las Vegas.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 15, 2021
Grant would be a gigantic loss for the United States, which already suffered from a general lack of frontcourt bodies ahead of the Games. A member of the team following a career-best season with the Detroit Pistons, Grant played 17 minutes in the tune-up game against Nigeria, started and played 13 minutes against Australia, and saw eight minutes of action in the team’s 28-point win over Argentina.
Should Grant not be able to take the floor, the United States would be left with Bam Adebayo, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, Kevin Love, and Jayson Tatum as its primary frontcourt options. The team is slated to begin Olympic play on July 25 against France.
