Kings forward Marvin Bagley III has been ruled out for Wednesday’s game against the Washington Wizards after entering NBA health and safety protocols.
The team updated Bagley’s status on its afternoon injury report as the Kings prepared to open a three-game homestand against the Wizards at Golden 1 Center. The news came hours after interim coach Alvin Gentry revealed he would miss the game after testing positive for COVID-19. Assistant coach Doug Christie will serve as the team’s acting head coach.
Players who enter the league’s health and safety protocols must be out a minimum of 10 days or until they produce two negative tests in a period of at least 24 hours. Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James was cleared after missing one game against the Kings on Nov. 30.
Bagley, 22, came out of Duke as the No. 2 pick in the 2018 NBA draft. He is averaging 8.1 points and 6.7 rebounds in his fourth season. He has career averages of 13.9 points and 7.4 rebounds.
Bagley was not in the team’s rotation at the start of the season, but he has carved out a role under Gentry since former coach Luke Walton was fired Nov. 21. Bagley missed two games due to a non-COVID-19-related illness, but he has appeared in each of the other nine games under Gentry, averaging 10.0 points and 7.7 rebounds in 22.1 minutes per game.
Bagley missed the beginning of training camp at the start of the 2020-21 season after contracting COVID-19 in November 2020. Bagley said he experienced body aches, headaches and hot and cold flashes, saying it was “kind of like the flu, but it was a little bit worse than that.”
