The bubble is holding.
In a significant step, the NBA and National Basketball Players Association announced in a joint release that none of the 346 players who were tested for COVID-19 produced a positive result since leaving quarantine and entering the league's campus on the Disney World property. With intrasquad scrimmages set to begin this week, that's the most positive sign that the league remains on track to begin its 22-team restart on July 30.
The release went on to state that "in the event that a player on the NBA campus returns a confirmed positive test in the future, he will be isolated until he is cleared for leaving isolation under the rules established by the NBA and the Players Association." With Bucks guard Pat Connaughton telling the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel that he tested positive for the coronavirus, there are still players dealing with the issue. But none are knowingly currently on the NBA campus in Florida.
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One player who is on the campus who already dealt with the virus is Kings forward and former Bull Jabari Parker. Speaking from Florida during his Zoom media availability session Monday, the former Simeon High star said he's feeling fine.
"I got it I think the middle of June and I took my test. So I knew it way before we had to get into Sacramento," Parker said. "I knew I wasn't going to be there in the beginning of the workouts. Really staying low-key, staying to myself, like you're supposed to. And that lasted for five days and I re-tested. It came back negative. But with the NBA, you have to test negative twice in a row. It took me awhile to test twice in a row because I was building the antibodies and also trying to get it out of my system. I was really cleared those last couple weeks of June."
Parker said the experience didn't scar him.
NBA
"You just can't be afraid," he said. "You have to let it take its course. Most importantly, you have to use your faith in a higher purpose. That's what I had. I wasn't fearful because I'm pretty healthy, active. I know that I relied on a strong immune system that I've been building up to this point to really carry me over. It hits everybody differently."
The positive news out of Florida could raise hopes for a second so-called bubble situation for the eight teams not part of the restart, which includes the Bulls. Chicago almost certainly would be the host of that scenario. The Bulls have been vocal with their desire to have some sort of authorized formal team activities.