Report: NBA Players Expected to Need 2 Negative COVID-19 Tests to Leave Rooms

With the NBA reportedly set to end its hiatus July 30, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, questions remain about the COVID-19 safety and testing protocols the league will put in place. 

Marc Stein of the New York Times reported Thursday that the NBA and its players are still in discussions regarding those protocols, but the "current expectation is that players would quarantine for up to two days in their rooms on 'campus' until they register two negative COVID-19 tests."

The NBA's return-to-play plan includes 22 teams located at Orlando, Florida's Walt Disney World, with no fans in the stands for the games because of coronavirus concerns. Teams will play eight regular-season contests before a play-in matchup between the Nos. 8 and 9 seeds in each conference if they are within four games of each other. 

A traditional postseason bracket will follow.

Given that some players may have concerns about contracting the coronavirus—especially if they are  immunocompromised—the NBA and its players association "are agreeing on a plan that would allow players to stay home without consequences," according to Wojnarowski. 

Woj added that some players have had some second thoughts about the league's return-to-play plan:

"As players have started to come to terms with the restrictive and isolated nature of the Orlando bubble—including no visitors until after the first round of the playoffs, nearly seven weeks after the opening of mid-July training camp—there has been increased dialogue about the prudence of restarting the season for a number of players, especially those on non-championship contenders, sources said."

It will be a challenging situation for players, though the lack of a COVID-19 vaccine means the league needs to take unique measures to ensure the safety of players and coaching staffs once play resumes. It does leave open the possibility that several players might skip play altogether, however.