Hornets COVID-19 update: Who can play Sunday vs. Spurs, when might others return?
Caleb and Cody Martin will miss the Charlotte Hornets’ home game Sunday against the San Antonio Spurs.
P.J. Washington is doubtful to play. Jalen McDaniels, recalled from the G-League bubble, might be cleared in time to be available Sunday.
That’s pretty much all the Hornets can say regarding the COVID-19 related issues that disrupted Friday’s game day before a victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Hornets are still working through NBA health-and-safety protocols regarding the Martin twins and Washington. There are some things they don’t yet know, other things they won’t make public out of respect for players’ health privacy.
At minimum, barring some other illness or injury, the Hornets will have the nine players who were available against the Timberwolves: Eight of those played Friday (at least 21 minutes each) and the ninth, rookie Nick Richards, suited up but wasn’t used.
Hornets coach James Borrego said Saturday that McDaniels is back in Charlotte. After flying up from Orlando, Fla., McDaniels has to go through certain screening protocols before being cleared to practice or play. Borrego is hopeful that will be resolved before Sunday’s 7 p.m. tip-off.
It’s unresolved when the Martin twins or Washington could rejoin the team. The Hornets haven’t disclosed if any of those players tested positive for COVID-19 or if their absences are about contact tracing.
NBA’s coronavirus protocol
The NBA uses the term “health and safety protocol” during the pandemic to indicate COVID-19 issues. The league has said a player being out over “health and safety” likely means one of three things:
▪ That player is a confirmed positive case for COVID-19
▪ That player is in quarantine due to close contact with a person who has tested positive
▪ That player is awaiting the results of a confirmatory test.
If a player has tested positive for COVID-19, one of two things must happen before he’d be cleared to play again:
▪ He’d test negative twice in samples collected at least 24 hours apart from a positive test.
▪ He’d have been isolated at least 10 days after the first positive test or onset of symptoms. Then, there would be another two days of stepped-up individual activity before practicing or playing with his team.
If a player has been in close contact with an infected individual, but hasn’t tested positive, the length of that player’s quarantine can vary by case, but it could last a week, the NBA has said.
