Michael Beasley has coronavirus, making him the eighth Net infected
Michael Beasley left the NBA “bubble” after testing positive for coronavirus, according to multiple reports. He signed with the Nets five days ago and is the eighth player on the team to test positive. Four Nets contracted the virus in March; only Kevin Durant was named at the time. As testing has ramped up ahead of the NBA’s purported bubble restart in Orlando, four more Nets have tested positive for the virus in the last two weeks: Spencer Dinwiddie, Taurean Prince, DeAndre Jordan and Beasley.
Dinwiddie, Prince and Jordan opted out of the restart after testing positive, along with Wilson Chandler, who opted out for family reasons. Durant and Kyrie Irving are out with season-ending injuries.
The NBA announced Monday that two players had tested positive inside the Orlando so-called bubble and departed. It was not immediately clear if Beasley was one of the two. In addition to the support staff coming in and out of the NBA area, it has already been a challenge keeping players confined. Kings center Richaun Holmes was forced to re-quarantine for 10 days after picking up a food delivery order, and The Athletic reported that “multiple tips” had been called into the league’s snitch hotline.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has said that what would constitute “a hole in our bubble” is players testing positive after quarantining. That hasn’t happened yet — the NBA says the two players who tested positive most recently were still quarantining. Beasley needed to pass a series of coronavirus tests before fully joining the Nets, and apparently didn’t.
The Orlando restart is working on its own terms, at least so far. But Beasley traveled there with a coronavirus infection possibly incubating. He’s now traveling out of there with an infection definitely present. Even if the league can keep its players safe, it’s unquestionably spreading the virus. The Athletic reports that Beasley’s roster status is “up in the air.”
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