NBA, NBPA announce zero positive coronavirus tests from inside Disney bubble

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The NBA received more good news regarding COVID-19 testing in the bubble the day before its restart officially tips off.

Wednesday, the league and NBPA announced that zero of 344 players tested on the Disney campus since July 20 returned confirmed positive tests.

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So, the bubble continues to hold for the time being. That's not to say everything has gone perfectly. Multiple players, including Richaun Holmes and Bruno Caboclo, have accidentally broken quarantine on campus. Lou Williams, out on an excused absence for a family funeral, was photographed at the Magic City strip club in Atlanta, incurring a 10-day quarantine mandate and possibly some financial penalties. There have been positive tests outside of the bubble that delayed some players' arrival, including Russell Westbrook. And there's three months to go.

But the fact that the novel coronavirus has not yet penetrated the bubble is an undeniably positive development. The league's protocols, while not unimpeachable, appear to be working so far.

Meanwhile, MLB's 2020 season has already hit a snag, catalyzed by a COVID-19 outbreak in the Miami Marlins' clubhouse. That led NBPA director Michele Roberts to be questioned on the possibility the NBA could bubble its 2020-21 season, given the increased health risks that playing in home markets and traveling (as MLB is currently doing) come with.

"If tomorrow looks like today, I don't know how we say we can do it differently," Roberts told ESPN's Tim Bontemps. It's been widely reported that the NBA initially targeted December as a starting point for the 2020-21 season, but nothing has been made official on that front as of yet.

The scrimmage round of the 2019-20 restart, at least, has gone off mostly without a hitch. The eight-game seeding phase begins July 30 with a matchup between the New Orleans Pelicans and Utah Jazz.

RELATED: NBA season restart 2020: Schedule for 8-game seeding round for every team 

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