Wizards cancel Tuesday practice after two players are placed in coronavirus protocols

On Tuesday, the Washington Wizards announced in a press release that the team has cancelled practice due to two unnamed players entering the NBA’s Health and Safety Protocols due to possible exposure to the coronavirus. At this time, no players have been reported to have the coronavirus, though this could change.

While some teams like the Dallas Mavericks have had games postponed due to multiple players having the coronavirus, the Wizards have managed to avoid an outbreak. In fact, the Wizards have been able to dance around the virus despite playing against teams with players who had the coronavirus and were likely contagious.

Last week, the Wizards played the Philadelphia 76ers who had Seth Curry. Curry played 36 minutes in that game tested positive a day later. In other words, Curry played the Wizards while having the coronavirus.

Then in their very next game against the Boston Celtics, Jayson Tatum played 35 minutes and had a close chat with Bradley Beal without a face mask since players don’t wear them while on the court— and Tatum tested positive very soon after. Beal himself had to miss a game due to coronavirus protocols before returning for last night’s game against the Phoenix Suns. I’m scratching my head as to why Beal would be let back on the court that quickly, but I’ll leave it at that.

Anecdotally, the Wizards appear to be among the most vulnerable teams to a coronavirus outbreak from a health standpoint, because very few players had the virus. Currently, Russell Westbrook and Thomas Bryant are the only confirmed players to have had COVID-19 before where both got the virus before the NBA’s summer restart in Orlando, Fla. That said, Westbrook is out for at least a week due to a quadriceps injury and Bryant is out for the season due to a torn ACL.