NBA Advises Against Testing Asymptomatic Players

Adam Silver and the NBA have decided against testing players and staff who are not showing symptoms.

On Thursday, the league issued a memo to all 30 teams recommending that they do not test anyone in the organization who did not show symptoms. 

“For the time being, it is not appropriate in the current public health environment to regularly test all payers and staff for the coronavirus,” the league said.

The league has been suspended since March 11, when Utah Jazz forward Rudy Gobert was the first to be diagnosed, setting off a chain reaction of players also testing positive. 

Since the suspension of league play, all of the players who have publicly admitted to their positive diagnosis have now made a full recovery, including star players like Donovan Mitchell and Brooklyn Nets’ Kevin Durant. 

The memo noted that teams should expect league-wide testing once the teams return to training and to their respective facilities. 

Last week, the NBA announced that they will not allow teams to have players in their facilities until May 8, at the earliest. 

It is understood that while practicing, the players are not required to wear masks, however, the coaches are fully expected to be in masks and gloves at all times. 

On Tuesday, the NBA was involved in a conference call with Seema Verma, who is an administrator for the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services and a member of the White House COVID task force. On the call, it was mentioned that President Trump is committed to bringing sports back as soon as it is safe to do so. 

There have been over 63,000 COVID-19 deaths and almost 154,000 recoveries. 

Silver has said that there is no concrete date for a return to the season, and it is possible that the 2019-2020 season may be cancelled altogether. 

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