Six Wizards test positive for COVID-19 as Suns remain on hold
Jan 15, 2021, 4:16 PM | Updated: 4:27 pm
Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal, right, reacts with forward Rui Hachimura (8) during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Phoenix Suns, Monday, Jan. 11, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
(AP Photo/Nick Wass)
The count is now at six Washington Wizards who have tested positive for coronavirus, general manager Tommy Sheppard confirmed Friday.
That is despite the team last playing the Phoenix Suns on Monday night, then canceling practices from Tuesday on. It’s an example of how the virus can take time to show up on tests and decimate an NBA roster.
Meanwhile, the Suns have canceled three games — a Wednesday game plus future games Friday and Saturday — after playing Washington and returning home early Tuesday morning.
Arizona Sports’ John Gambadoro reported that no Phoenix player has tested positive for the virus between returning home through late Thursday afternoon.
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It is not known how or if the Wizards’ three additional coronavirus cases reported Friday affect the Suns, but it was the two initial positive tests on Washington’s roster that triggered Phoenix to cancel a scheduled pro day on Tuesday.
Which players have coronavirus and which are under protocols as a precaution are not revealed by the NBA. But the league did confirm by postponing Phoenix’s recent games that the Suns do not have the league-minimum eight players to field a team through Saturday’s originally scheduled game against the Indiana Pacers.
Phoenix also did not play a game set for Wednesday against the Atlanta Hawks and will not play Friday night against the Golden State Warriors.
The Suns’ next game scheduled is set for Monday at the Memphis Grizzlies.
It is set for a 3 p.m. tip time and will be part of a nationally televised TNT lineup to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day. On radio, it’s scheduled to air on ESPN 620 AM.
