On Tuesday, the NBA and NBPA jointly announced additions to the ongoing health and safety protocols as teams attempt to navigate the 2020-21 season. That announcement came in response to an uptick in players becoming unavailable and games being postponed but, on the same day, the Boston Celtics saw their third game postponed in the early going, with potential impact on the team later this week. Then, on Tuesday evening, the NBA announced that Wednesday’s scheduled game between the Washington Wizards and the Utah Jazz is postponed due to contract tracing prohibiting Washington from reaching the eight-player minimum to begin a game.
Earlier, the Wizards canceled practice after sidelining two players for protocol reasons, and head coach Scott Brooks spoke about the decision.
“Throughout the league it’s happening, and we knew there was always going to be a possibility that it might happen with us,” Brooks shared on Tuesday, via the Washington Post. “We have a couple of players in the safety protocol, but we canceled practice just so we could be smart about it. We don’t know until the next — you know, today or tomorrow, what that all means. We’re just going by the NBA’s safety and protocol rules. … We canceled practice just to be on the side of safety with everything.”
Washington’s next scheduled game is on Friday, Jan. 15 at home against the Detroit Pistons, and it remains to be seen what kind of impact the current situation could have on that contest. The Jazz face the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday and, with the postponement, Utah’s next scheduled game would be Friday at home against the Atlanta Hawks in Salt Lake City.
