Los Angeles (AFP)
Three players from the New Orleans NBA franchise tested positive for Covid-19 last week, the Vice President of the Pelicans announced Tuesday, as did two members of the Denver Nuggets, reports ESPN.
David Griffin, head of basketball operations for the Pelicans, did not specify which players contracted the virus, simply adding that they were currently in solitary confinement.
Last Friday, the NBA announced that 16 players out of 302 (5.3%) were found positive after tests carried out on the previous Tuesday, without revealing their identity.
The Pelicans, 10th in the Western Conference, are 3.5 games from eighth place occupied by Memphis, the last qualifier for the play-offs. They will reopen the season on July 30 against Utah Jazz.
The Denver Nuggets closed their training center on Saturday after two of their members tested positive for coronavirus last week.
ESPN, citing sources within the club, does not specify whether these people are players, coaches or staff of the team that must go to the "bubble" of Disney World in Florida around July 7.
Team star Nikola Jokic also contracted Covid-19 in Serbia last week. Asymptomatic, he had to observe a quarantine period before being allowed to return to the United States in the coming days.
According to ESPN, the Nuggets will reopen their facilities based on the results of additional tests performed.
Denver, whose coach Michael Malone recently revealed that he has tested positive for coronavirus in recent months, ranks 3rd in the Western Conference behind the Los Angeles Lakers and the Clippers.
The 22 teams vying for the resumption of the season must rally between July 7 and 9, Florida, which has observed for two weeks a spectacular resurgence of cases of coronavirus.
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