Three each from Pelicans, Nuggets test positive

NEW YORK • The National Basketball Association's (NBA) New Orleans Pelicans have had three players test positive for Covid-19, while three members of the Denver Nuggets organisation also contracted the coronavirus, according to ESPN reports on Tuesday.

David Griffin, the Pelicans' executive vice-president of basketball operations, would not identify who are the players.

"They're not in 'quarantine'. They're in self-isolation and they test daily," he told reporters.

"When they can have two negative tests - or rather tests that are good results for us - they can return to activity with the team."

The Nuggets closed their practice facility last Saturday after members of their planned 35-person delegation - including players, staff and coaches - to this month's season restart caught the disease.

It was also not clear who tested positive but the facility was closed as a precautionary measure and will reopen based on the results of ongoing testing before the team depart for Orlando next Tuesday.

The Nuggets' closure news came on the same day that the Brooklyn Nets reopened their facility after positive tests by Spencer Dinwiddie and DeAndre Jordan.

According to ESPN, Denver All-Star centre Nikola Jokic tested positive in Serbia, and Nuggets coach Michael Malone told a Denver television station that he had contracted the virus in March but did not know until he was tested for antibodies in May.

Players began reporting to facilities on June 23 to start testing protocols, ahead of going to Orlando for the resumption of the campaign on July 30 at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex inside the Disney World resort in Orlando.

At 43-22, the Nuggets were third in the Western Conference behind the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers when the season was shut down on March 11.

The Pelicans (28-36) are 10th in the West and will kick off the season restart against the Utah Jazz.

REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on July 02, 2020, with the headline Three each from Pelicans, Nuggets test positive. Subscribe