Four Brooklyn Nets players including Kevin Durant have tested positive for COVID-19. To recall, the NBA club visited Staples Center on March 10 to duel with the Los Angeles Lakers. The following day, the NHL's Ottawa Senators visited the Los Angeles Kings for a hockey duel. Now, it is revealed that a player from Senators is positive for COVID-19.
While there is a belief that the Senators were infected in the Staples Center visitor's locker room, Arash Markazi of the Los Angeles Times clarified that the two sports teams were in different dressing rooms. However, they might have shared the same bus.
According to the @TheAthletic: “It is believed that multiple Senators players are ill and awaiting test results. They suspect that the infection occurred when the Senators used the same Staples Center dressing room as the Brooklyn Nets the day after they played the Lakers.”
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) March 18, 2020
I was just told the Nets and Senators were in different visiting locker rooms but may have used the same bus.
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) March 18, 2020
The Ottawa Senators’ last game was Wednesday, March 11 against the Los Angeles Kings at Staples Center. https://t.co/adhZXafYul
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) March 18, 2020
The games between the Nets-Lakers and Senators-Kings were the last sporting events held at Staples Center before the respective leagues suspended their seasons indefinitely.
Following the news regarding the Nets players, the Lakers organization released a statement. They said that they ‘have been immediate contact' with their players and basketball operations staff. The NBA also released their own statement covering the latest list.
Though it is unclear whether or not they intend to test if the players and staff are COVID-19 positive. It should be noted the virus is asymptomatic in nature, meaning that those infected with it may not necessarily show symptoms but can still spread it.
#Lakers have released the following statement: pic.twitter.com/Vr8bMoieoK
— Ryan Ward (@RyanWardLA) March 18, 2020
As of this writing, a total of seven NBA players are infected with COVID-19. These are Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell of the Utah Jazz, Christian Wood of the Detroit Pistons, and the four Nets players.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended a postponement of events of 50 plus people for the next two months. As such, the NBA is eyeing the resumption of the season from mid-June to August. But this recent development has cast a long and dark shadow on the 2019-20 season.
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