Rockets' John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins among players who have missed playing time due to virus concernsNBAE/Getty Images
Decisions about the quarantine periods for NBA players who test positive for COVID-19 or are deemed close contacts are "made by a NBA committee after extensive talks with similar committees set up by each team," according to Jonathan Feigen of the HOUSTON CHRONICLE. The NBA "has a three-person group assigned to do contact tracing." Teams also "were required to have a contact tracing group of an officer and two managers." NBA Senior VP/Player Matters David Weiss said, "They work collaboratively with the league staff to identify close contact. It's very time and labor intensive and it requires [an] individual review of each case, interviews, facility footage, really going through and trying to understand the amount of contact between people, the setting in which it occurred, were masks worn, what was the ventilation like, the level of positivity of the person at the time they tested" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 12/30).
FAMILIAR FACES: In Ft. Lauderdale, Ira Winderman reports the NBA "has moved toward more 'home' games for its referees amid the coronavirus pandemic." There were "three Central Florida-based officials working the Heat's season-opener last week" against the Magic at the Amway Center. Then, for the Heat's Christmas Day matchup against the Pelicans, the officiating crew "included Miami-based Jason Goble and Clearwater-based Brent Barnaky." The NBA "already has had some referees working consecutive games in arenas" (South Florida SUN SENTINEL, 12/30).
