It did not take long for the Covid-19 to disrupt the new NBA season: the Houston-Oklahoma City match, scheduled for Wednesday as part of the second day, had to be postponed after positive cases within the Rockets.
Seventy-two days after the coronation of the Lakers, which put an end to the last championship in the bubble of Disney World (Florida), the 2020-2021 fiscal year begins badly, while the pandemic has never been so galloping in United States.
If Tuesday’s opening went off without a hitch with Brooklyn’s inaugural victories over Golden State and the Clippers at the expense of the Lakers, the first problem with the virus came from Houston. “Three players have passed tests which were positive or inconclusive for the Covid-19 and four other players constituting their contact cases were also quarantined”, said the instance.
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In quarantine at home
In addition, James Harden “Is unavailable due to a violation of health protocols”, added the NBA which had opened an investigation after the appearance of a video in which the star of the Texan team appeared at a party Monday, surrounded by several people, without a mask. As such, the league recommends not to frequent bars, nightclubs and to avoid gatherings of more than 15 people.
“All the other Rockets players were tested again this Wednesday and the results were negative for each”, said the NBA, which justified the postponement of the game against the Thunder because Houston has an additional player unavailable due to an injury. “In this case, the Rockets do not have the eight players available required by the league to play this meeting”, she concluded.
Point guard John Wall and pivot DeMarcus Cousins are among rookie Kenyon Martin Jr.’s contact cases, according to ESPN and The Athletic, and have been sent home to put themselves in “Self-isolation” preventive. The three players were on Tuesday in the apartment of one of them where they requested the services of a hairdresser at home. Since testing positive on Tuesday, Martin Jr. has, again according to the same media, undergone an additional test which turned out negative, just like those passed by Wall and Cousins, the two major rookies of the Rockets at the off-season.
A few days ago, Houston had already recorded a first positive case of Covid, in the person of the back Ben McLemore.
James Harden on the sidelines
There remains the case of James Harden, who comes a little more poisoning an already hot context in Houston. The star, who is not a contact case of Martin, was therefore banned from a match by the League, although he denied having been at a strip club. What the images of the video seem to attest, however. “One thing after another. I went to support my friend at her event (not a strip) because she becomes a patron and puts hers in a position to be successful and apparently that’s a problem. Every day there is something different. It doesn’t matter how many times people drag my name through the mud. The truth will always triumph ”, he defended himself on Instagram. Without convincing the NBA therefore.
One more negative episode on the “The Beard” (the bearded man) who, having expressed a wish to leave Houston in the offseason, did not resume training until late and was involved in an altercation with a teammate.
Season uncertain
The start of the season is chaotic for Houston, which tries to rebuild, with or without Harden, after the departure of Russell Westbrook in Washington, but also of the coach Mike D’Antoni who left to assist Steve Nash on the Brooklyn bench.
And for the NBA, it’s seven months of a very uncertain season that is starting in the worst possible way, even though boss Adam Silver said on Tuesday he expected there to be. “Obstacles along the way”, reaffirming his confidence “in the league’s health protocols.
Anticipating that matches may be postponed because of the virus, it has only published the schedule for the first half of the season, until March 4, to better reprogram them if necessary. It took him well.
