Coronavirus hit the NBA hard, 16 and 11 cases in the previous rounds of testing. There were calls to return to a bubble or even halt the season.
Instead, the league tightened restrictions and more liberally postponed games.
Those new strategies apparently worked.
NBA release:
It’s unclear who had this positive test.
Clippers stars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George are out due to coronavirus protocols, but it’s often unspecified whether players are out due to a positive test or just contact tracing. Obviously, this means Leonard and George didn’t both test positive.
NBA players have now had at least 145 cases – and almost certainly many more – of coronavirus. Perversely, that high number of prior cases helped the league achieve this victory. Though possible, reinfection is exceedingly unlikely.
Natural immunity, a nationwide decline in cases and stricter protocols within the NBA have the league in much better shape than earlier this month.