Report: NBA Could Allow Replacements for Players Who Don't Return Amid COVID-19

Players who decline to participate in the NBA's restart would be ineligible to return for the remainder of the 2019-20 season, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. 

Teams would reportedly then be allowed to sign a replacement player to fill out their rosters.

The NBA announced June 4 it was planning to resume play July 31 with 22 teams at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida, after play was suspended because of the COVID-19 pandemic in March.

Wojnarowski reported Wednesday the NBA and National Basketball Players Association were negotiating a way to allow for players with reservations about the plan to withdraw without repercussion. The concerns reportedly extended well beyond the health risks posed by traveling to Orlando while the pandemic remains ongoing:

"Players are citing a number of concerns, including family situations, the inability to leave the Disney World Resort campus, the coronavirus pandemic and the implications surrounding the emergence of social justice causes in the country, sources said. Participants in Orlando⁠—including players⁠—will not be allowed to leave the bubble environment without a 10-day quarantine upon their return to the Disney grounds, sources said."

Bobby Marks of ESPN reported injured players such as Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant will be separated from their teams entirely. Not only are they prohibited from returning for the playoffs, but they're also unable to enter the NBA's Disney bubble.

Rosters will be capped at 15 players. Thirteen will be eligible to play, and the other two serve as injury replacements.

According to Marks, teams will likely have a one-week window when they can make any necessary additions. The free-agent pool could be limited to players on two-way contracts or those who had been signed at some point in training camp or the regular season.

Wojnarowski's newest report doesn't come as a surprise since the NBA is doing what it can to limit the number of personnel within the bubble. He reported June 5 that only after the first round of the postseason will a limited number of family members join players in Orlando.

Having a player enter the bubble later would also require rigorous testing for the coronavirus and a quarantine period. According to The Ringer's Kevin O'Connor, personnel who leave and return to Disney World would have to test negative twice and remain quarantined for 10 days.

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Bleacher Report's David Gardner interviews athletes and other sports figures for the podcast How to Survive Without Sports.