CHICAGO — The NBA postponed Wednesday’s Chicago Bulls game against the Toronto Raptors at the United Center after an outbreak left the Raptors without the league minimum of eight available players.
It is the third Bulls game postponed because of COVID-19 in the last two weeks. The league postponed the Bulls’ home game against the Detroit Pistons (Dec. 14) and road game against the Raptors (Dec. 16). During that week, the NBA restricted the Bulls from all group activities to allow time for 10 players to clear COVID-19 protocols, including stars Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan.
Five players have since cleared the COVID-19 protocols: DeRozan, Derrick Jones Jr., Coby White, Javonte Green and Troy Brown Jr. Devon Dotson entered the protocols Tuesday, bringing the team’s sidelined tally to six players.
The Bulls played two games following the postponement, beating the Los Angeles Lakers, 115-110, on Sunday and the Houston Rockets, 133-118, on Monday.
The Raptors went down to seven players Wednesday morning after OG Anunoby entered the league protocols according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The Raptors were also missing Khem Birch because of injury, and Goran Dragić, Justin Champagnie and David Johnson were also unavailable.
The postponement is the latest blow for the league as another COVID-19 surge pushes teams to the limits of their depth. More than 100 players have been placed in the league’s health and safety protocols in December. The Bulls accounted for 11 of those cases.
Despite this widespread impact, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said Tuesday there are no plans for a pause in the league’s schedule.
“Frankly, we’re having trouble coming up with what the logic would be behind pausing right now,” Silver told ESPN. “This virus will not be eradicated. We’re going to have to learn to live with it.”
The league reports 97% of players are vaccinated and Silver said 65% have also received their booster shot. Bulls center Nikola Vučević said “most” of his teammates received the booster, although he could not receive one yet because of the proximity of his bout with COVID-19 in November.
Despite these assurances, COVID-19 continues to march through the league unabated as a combination of two new variants and a holiday-fueled surge wreak havoc. The omicron variant has been particularly ruthless, accounting for 90% of the league’s current cases according to Silver.
Even as the Bulls exit their own outbreak, the virus is expected to remain a disruptor. The Bulls are slated to play two games next week against the Atlanta Hawks, who currently have five players in COVID-19 protocols after Lou Williams and Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot were the latest sidelined by a team outbreak Wednesday morning.
Silver said the league is weighing other possibilities to reduce the impact of similar surges, including reduced quarantine periods for vaccinated players who are asymptomatic following a positive COVID-19 test. Coach Billy Donovan said the majority of Bulls players who tested positive for the virus remained asymptomatic for their entire 10-day quarantine.
The Bulls are scheduled to host the Indiana Pacers at the United Center on Dec. 26. The game will mark one of the last nights in the near future in which unvaccinated fans will be guaranteed admission to Bulls games.
The team announced a new policy Wednesday requiring proof of vaccination for all fans over the age of 5 in attendance at the United Center in correspondence with the city’s new indoor vaccination requirement policies.
Fans will need to provide a copy of their CDC vaccination record card or proof of a government-approved immunization, and individuals age 16 and older will also need to provide a corresponding ID. This policy will be first applied Jan. 3 for the Bulls game against the Orlando Magic. It will also apply to Blackhawks games and other events at the United Center.
The NBA has not announced when postponed games will be rescheduled.
