Report: NBA Tells Teams They Can Test Asymptomatic Players, Staff for COVID-19

Roughly six weeks after the NBA advised teams not to test asymptomatic players and staff for COVID-19, the league is reversing course on its decision. 

Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported the league informed teams they can begin testing all employees for COVID-19 in order to comply with revised CDC guidelines, and because there has been an increase in the number of tests available nationwide.

On April 30, ESPN's Tim Bontemps reported the league sent a memo to all teams advising against asymptomatic testing.

"For the time being," the memo read. "It is not appropriate in the current public health environment to regularly test all players and staff for the coronavirus."

Multiple teams throughout the league received immediate backlash for conducting screening on those who did not appear sick at a time when frontline healthcare workers, and the nation at large, faced a shortage of available tests.

Per Bontemps:

Teams were instructed to make any decisions on testing any players or staff "in consultation with an infectious disease specialist, and in consideration of the patient's individual circumstances and guidance on testing related to COVID-19 from the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] and from the local health authority in the team's market."

The memo also said the NBA is still looking at opportunities for league-wide testing capabilities, and anticipates implementing one when team-organized activities resume.

The increase in testing coincides with the league's preparations for a 22-team restart at ESPN's Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. 

According to ESPN's Zach Lowe, beginning on June 23, all members of teams traveling to Florida will be tested every other day until they arrive in Orlando. 

On May 21,  Charania reported the league was in "discussions" with national testing centers. It is unclear if a partnership has been reached to conduct further tests or how the league plans to carry out testing once teams make their way to Florida.