Naturally, one of, if not the biggest concern about the NBA's impending move to restart the season in July is the possibility of a player — or anybody else physically present within the bubble, for that matter — tests positive for the coronavirus. Commissioner Adam Silver recently addressed this issue in an NBA on TNT interview with Charles Barkley, and according to the league's top executive, shutting down the league entirely might not be necessary if a single player tested positive.
Here is the exact quote from commissioner Silver:
“The answer is we do not believe we would need to,” Silver stated in response to Barkley's question on whether or not a team will need to forfeit the series if one of their players tests positive for the virus in the playoffs. “We've been dealing with a group of our experts plus public health authorities down in Florida now. And the view is that if we were testing everyday and we were able to trace contacts that player has had, we're able to in essence, contain that player and separate him from his team. And we're continuing to test everyday. The belief is we would not have to shut down if a single player tested positive.”
It appears that the NBA already has a contingency plan in place should this unfortunate incident actually transpire. What Silver is saying here is that contact tracing will be fully utilized in order to isolate any and all individuals the carrier has been in contact with.
The next concern would be if said player came in contact with the rest of his team, and perhaps the opposing team in a previous game. This is where daily tests will come into play. It appears that what the commissioner is implying here is that other players will still be allowed to play despite coming in contact with the carrier, so long as their daily tests come back negative.
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