The Mavericks have encountered their first significant COVID-19 issue as the NBA attempts to play this season outside of a quarantined environment.
Before their flight Friday from Denver to Dallas, the Mavericks learned a player on the trip had tested positive for COVID-19, a source told The Dallas Morning News’ Brad Townsend on Friday. The Athletic first reported the news.
Two more players who were exposed to the virus have tested negative but are expected to face seven-day quarantines due to the NBA’s contact-tracing protocols.
All three remained in Denver, where the Mavericks beat the Nuggets in overtime Thursday night, while the Mavericks flew home ahead of Saturday night’s contest against the Magic in American Airlines Center.
Reserve guard Trey Burke didn’t travel with the Mavericks to Denver because of an illness, which Carlisle said he believed was not related to COVID-19. In the offseason, Burke revealed he had tested positive for COVID-19 and endured a 25-day hotel quarantine before joining the Mavericks in the bubble as a roster substitute.
On the media game notes Saturday’s Magic-Mavericks game, Dallas listed Burke as questionable to return from the illness. Teams have labeled players as out for “health and safety protocols” in cases of COVID-19-related absence this season.
Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic posted a picture to his Instagram story Friday that appeared to show him watching film on a laptop on the team plane.
Before the Mavericks’ 124-117 overtime win Thursday over the Nuggets, coach Rick Carlisle talked for a few minutes about his confidence in the NBA’s plan to combat transmission of the coronavirus and schedule disruptions as it holds the season in local markets, rather than its summer Disney World bubble.
The NBA tests all players and staff members daily, and anyone who tests positive can return to work 10 or more days after the first positive test or start of symptoms or after negative results at least 24 hours apart via polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests.
Players who test positive, regardless of symptoms, will not be allowed to exercise for a minimum of 10 days and will be monitored for two days upon return. Carlisle said the NBA based its 24-hour, rapid testing protocol on the coronavirus’ incubation period.
“The system allows for a positive test to be pulled from the group to quarantine to get another test to confirm that it was positive and so there’s a mechanism in place,” Carlisle said. “For all this to work, you have to follow the details of the daily protocols and look, we’ve got the best people in the business with Casey Smith and Dionne Calhoun and Heather Mau and all of our medical people overseeing these things.
“We’ve just got to stay steadfast and understand that there’s no guarantees. When you try to create a traveling bubble, which is what we’re doing, which we’re doing as a league, there are certainly more variables, but the hope is that if someone does throw a positive test out there that they can be pulled from the group and that you can kind of move forward from there.”
Several other teams have grappled with COVID-19-related absences this week.
The Bulls, the Mavericks’ opponent last Sunday, played without four players after a handful of positive tests within the organization.
Philadelphia guard Seth Curry, whom the Mavericks traded in November, was removed from the 76ers’ bench Thursday night during the first quarter of their game against the Nets after the team received his positive test result. The team planned to conduct contact tracing Friday.
The Celtics on Friday placed three players in the NBA’s coronavirus protocol after Robert Williams reportedly tested positive for COVID-19 and Tristan Thompson and Grant Williams were identified as close contacts.
NBA protocol dictates teams must have eight healthy players to hold a game.
