Wizards vs. Bucks Postponed Due to Health and Safety Protocols

The Washington Wizards will have to wait to return to the court.

On Wednesday night, the NBA announced Friday's game between the Wizards and Milwaukee Bucks was postponed because of the league's health and safety protocols.

"The game is being postponed due to the number of unavailable players for the Wizards, contract tracing for other players on their roster, and the length of time preceding the game during which the team was unable to practice," the announcement read.

This is the sixth consecutive game for Washington that has been postponed since it last played during a Jan. 11 victory over the Phoenix Suns.

The team announced it was just cleared to practice Wednesday, although it was set to be without a number of players for Friday's contest:

"That's just a recipe for injury, honestly," Bradley Beal told reporters when talking about playing so quickly on Friday after the team was just cleared to practice.

He also said the team wants to play but is concerned about safety while acknowledging he isn't against the idea of finishing the season in a bubble-like environment instead of playing in home arenas during the COVID-19 pandemic:

While Beal has been a bright spot, Washington was off to a 3-8 start before the string of postponements upended its season.

Postponed games have become something of the norm for the league at this point as it deals with the fallout of playing these games during a global pandemic without the benefits that the Walt Disney World Resort bubble provided.

There were zero positive COVID-19 tests in the entire league as it finished its 2019-20 campaign in such an environment.