It’s not a secret that the coronavirus has made a major impact on the NBA and some of the best names in the game have been affected by this disease. Players like Kevin Durant and Donovan Mitchell tested positive for COVID-19, and fans expect more names to be joining them in the next few days.
This is a sad truth, but seeing the latest events in the league, it’s not crazy to think that way. However, there are other players and teams’ personnel that have been tested for the disease and got a negative result in return.
Jordan Clarkson, a teammate of Rudy Gobert (the first infected in the league) and Donovan Mitchell, tested negative for the virus, as well as Emmanuel Mudiay, when several people thought he was positive, too.
Utah Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson tested negative for coronavirus, per his father.
— Dave Matter (@Dave_Matter) March 12, 2020
Firstly, thanks to everyone for the positive words. Yesterday I got tested for the Covid-19 virus. By God’s grace it came out negative. Despite my teammates and I taking necessary precautions, it didn’t turn out as expected. To my guys @spidadmitchell @rudygobert27, God speed🙏🏾❤️ pic.twitter.com/5zbj1MFgRO
— Emmanuel Mudiay (@emmanuelmudiay) March 12, 2020
Other Utah Jazz personnel were tested, but fortunately, the results were good for them.
Sources: Donovan Mitchell was the only Jazz player/personnel to test positive for coronavirus out of 58 tests administered on Wednesday night. Remaining tests came back negative.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 12, 2020
Some members of the Toronto Raptors had the same fate, but there was nothing to worry about.
Toronto Raptors release an update, saying all members of teams have tested negative for the coronavirus.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) March 14, 2020
Referee Courtney Kirkland was thought to be infected, too, but the results came back clean.
Report: NBA official Courtney Kirkland tests negative for COVID-19. https://t.co/DbnMZtq5Ib pic.twitter.com/ve5EvUIMzR
— theScore (@theScore) March 15, 2020
Spencer Dinwiddie was suspicious of having the virus when the Nets announced four of their players had tested positive for the coronavirus, but he made sure to shut down those rumors. There are three players whose names we don’t know yet after Kevin Durant revealed he was infected with the illness.
Saw some ppl in the comments say I’d be COVerID if they were on the floor. My response… Negative 🗣 #QuarantineDay5 😑 https://t.co/mv0THVq3zz
— spencerdinwiddie.base.eth (@SDinwiddie_25) March 18, 2020
Staff from the Oklahoma City Thunder were also tested, but luckily, nothing happened to them.
The Thunder announce that all results "have come back negative" on players and staffers tested for the coronavirus
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) March 18, 2020
JaVale McGee was thought to be one of the two Lakers players who tested positive for COVID-19, but the big man is virus-free. McGee suffers from asthma and people thought he was going to test positive, but sources revealed he’s healthy.
Los Angeles Lakers center JaVale McGee — who has asthma and experienced a bout with pneumonia last season — tested negative for the coronavirus, league sources tell Yahoo Sports.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) March 20, 2020
Even though there are several cases of COVID-19 among the NBA, knowing that these people are healthy gives people hope that this can be solved if we take care of ourselves and our loved ones.
We’re waiting to see more people adding their names to this list instead of that one with positive cases. This NBA season was expected to be a great one, and we were having a lot of fun with it. Unfortunately, it had to be suspended, but we can’t wait to see all these teams back in action.