New York (AFP)
The North American Basketball League (NBA) announced on Tuesday the postponement of the game scheduled for Wednesday between Boston and Orlando due to the coronavirus, the Celtics not having enough players available while a minimum of eight per team is required.
This meeting is the fifth postponed in the NBA for three weeks that began the regular season and the third for the franchise of Massachusetts which was to face Miami on Sunday and Chicago on Tuesday.
After star Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown tested positive, a large number of their teammates have become their potential contact cases and have been observing for around 40 while waiting for the traceability investigation to yield its results.
At the same time, on the Washington side, the Wizards canceled their training session for the day, while two of their players, unidentified, must also submit to the health protocol linked to Covid-19.
The first game to be postponed was Houston-Oklahoma City on December 23.
And Monday, Dallas-New Orleans did not take place either, for the same reasons of decimated workforce among the Rockets and Mavericks.
None of these meetings have been rescheduled.
The NBA has knowingly split its season into two parts, the schedule for the first until March 4 having been unveiled, but not that of the second supposed to start on the 10 after a six-day break.
It has thus given itself the possibility of rescheduling matches postponed from the first part of the season to the second, or even during the break.
"We had foreseen that there would be postponements of matches and planned the schedule accordingly. There are no plans to interrupt the championship and we will continue to be guided by our medical experts," his spokesperson said on Sunday. Mike Bass lyrics.
- Tightening of the protocol -
On Tuesday, the league, in agreement with the players' union (NBPA), announced a tightening of its protocols for at least the next two weeks.
It requires basketball players and staff to stay at home when matches take place at home, except to go to the hall and the facilities of their club or to perform essential activities.
Their interactions should be limited to those with family members and any staff who regularly work from their homes.
When traveling, they cannot leave their hotel, except to go to train and play in the hall or in case of emergency, or to interact with hotel guests.
For air travel, teams will need to create a flight plan so that the seats assigned to players are the same as those on the bench during matches.
On match day, before and after the match, the players must limit their interactions and keep a distance of 1.80 m.
All must wear a mask at all times on the bench and in the locker room, staff included.
Regarding testing, anyone who regularly visits the home of a player or a member of a team for professional purposes must undergo testing twice a week.
Finally, if a member of a team has contracted the virus, the NBA can require that other players and staff take a test for five days in a row in the laboratory, twice a day, in addition to the one imposed daily at the usual place. .
© 2021 AFP