Five Nets players have entered the NBA’s health and safety protocols and will miss a handful of games starting with Tuesday night’s matchup against the Toronto Raptors. The outbreak coincides with the Nets’ return from a four-game road trip that featured pit stops in Dallas, Houston, Atlanta and Detroit.
Veteran forward Paul Millsap was the first Net to enter the health and safety protocols when he missed Sunday’s game in Detroit against the Pistons for “personal reasons” that were later revealed as his entry into the protocols. The Nets then announced on Tuesday that LaMarcus Aldridge, DeAndre’ Bembry, Jevon Carter and James Johnson also each entered the league’s health and safety protocols.
Ahead of the Nets’ matchup against the Atlanta Hawks, head coach Steve Nash described the challenge of playing basketball amid yet another wave of COVID-19 hitting the United States as the Omicron variant spread across the country.
“We’ve messaged it to the guys at times. It’s probably going to happen to every team in the league,” said Nash. “There’s a new variant, it’s highly contagious and I think we’re going to face this. This is the world we live in. So there’s not a lot you can do about it. You can be extra careful and still face this type of thing, so that’s just important for everyone to stay aware and understand you can do everything you can to stay safe, but the reality is teams are going through this and it’s probably more unusual if a team doesn’t go through that this year.”
A player who entered the health and safety protocols has either tested positive for COVID-19 or has had an inconclusive test result after coming in close proximity with a person who tested positive for COVID-19.
According to the NBA’s health and safety protocols, a player who tests positive for COVID-19 must either quarantine 10 or more days after the first positive result or test negative twice in a 24-hour period through PCR testing.
Kevin Durant has also been listed as questionable against the Raptors with right ankle soreness after hanging 51 points on the Pistons in a game James Harden rested.
Per NBA rules, a team must have eight available players on its roster to play a game. Kyrie Irving is out due to his vaccination status and Joe Harris is out indefinitely after undergoing surgery to remove a bone particle from his left ankle. If Durant also sits, that leaves nine Nets to fend for themselves against the Raptors: James Harden, Patty Mills, Nic Claxton, Blake Griffin, Bruce Brown, and rookies Cam Thomas, David Duke Jr., Day’Ron Sharpe and Kessler Edwards.
