At least 19 NBA players have reportedly tested positive for coronavirus:
- Utah Jazz stars Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell
- Detroit Pistons big Christian Wood
- Four Brooklyn Nets including Kevin Durant
- Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart
- Two Los Angeles Lakers
- Member of the Denver Nuggets (not necessarily a player)
- Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic
- Indiana Pacers guard Malcolm Brogdon
- Sacramento Kings players Buddy Hield, Jabari Parker and Alex Len plus reportedly at least one other Kings player
- Miami Heat forward Derrick Jones Jr.
- Two Phoenix Suns
- Four members of a Western Conference playoff team (potentially including Jokic, not necessarily players)
To some degree, I understand players wanting to maintain their privacy – especially once they stopped interacting with masses of fans who’d benefit from being alerted.
But that’s generally not how the NBA works. Player injuries are announced, and we have repeatedly been told – as the NBA tries to resume its season – to treat coronavirus like an injury for players. The NBA’s push to draw revenue from gambling has been bolstered by promoting transparency, at least on paper. This violates that spirit.
It’s especially troubling as the league launches an ambitious plan for playing amid the pandemic. There are reasons to believe the plan is sound. There are reasons to believe the plan has shortcomings. But the NBA should be open with the underlying data.
As of mid-May, all the diagnosed players reportedly recovered in short order. Hopefully, the fact that other players have kept their diagnoses secret suggests they also recovered without complications.
