According to a report from Shams Charania of The Athletic, Jonas Valanciunas has exited the Memphis Grizzlies' matchup against the Brooklyn Nets after being placed under the league's health and safety protocol.
The abrupt decision to leave the game is not due to a positive test result, though.
Things are getting weirder as the NBA powers through a pandemic-riddled season. After promising results from the earlier rounds of testing, the situation has gone south for a bit.
To recall, Seth Curry was pulled out prior to tipoff between the Philadelphia 76ers and Brooklyn Nets on Thursday night. As of this writing, the Sixers might need to convince Doc Rivers to unretire as seven of their players, most notably Joel Embiid, have been deemed “questionable” for their matchup with the Nuggets.
Valanciunas played in 13 minutes before being yanked out. The Grizzlies big man had eight points, four rebounds, two steals, and one block to his name.
The Nets are without superstars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving Friday night. On the other hand, the Grizzlies' frontcourt became further depleted in Valanciunas' absence, leaving Brandon Clarke and Gorgui Dieng with all the frontcourt duties.
Memphis is having an abysmal start to their season, no thanks to Ja Morant's injury, as they find themselves among the bottom teams in the NBA. This is a far cry from what's expected out of the 2019-20 season's surprise squad.
As part of league rules, the Grizzlies may be without Valanciunas for a few more days, but an official update is yet to be announced.
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