According to a worrisome Friday report, the Miami Heat closed their practice facility after someone within the organization tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
As of now, it has not been revealed who garnered the positive test for the deadly disease.
Can confirm a second Heat player has tested positive for COVID, so team will shut down individual workouts at AmericanAirlines Arena and resume after team travels July 8 to Disney. Team will continue testing in absence of workouts.
— Ira Winderman (@IraHeatBeat) July 3, 2020
Team has declined to name player who tested positive, with Sun Sentinel to abide by request for privacy. But it is a rotation player. Derrick Jones Jr. previously confirmed as testing positive. https://t.co/mKetetrt4o
— Ira Winderman (@IraHeatBeat) July 3, 2020
As the report indicates, the team will not get back on the practice court until it enters the NBA’s bubble in Orlando, Fla. later this month.
Since the NBA began gearing up for a restart of the 2019-20 season, there have been a number of positive tests. Most recently, the Los Angeles Clippers shut down their practice facility after someone in their organization tested positive for COVID-19.
Before that, Brooklyn Nets stars DeAndre Jordan and Spencer Dinwiddie announced that they had tested positive for the illness.
Clearly, COVID-19 is going to play a role for the remainder of the 2019-20 NBA season.
While players and team staff will surely be as careful as possible going forward, the highly contagious nature of the illness seems to indicate that there will be positive tests once the season resumes.
As for the Heat, it remains to be seen whether or not they reveal who exactly tested positive. Whoever it is, hopefully he enjoys a speedy recovery back to full health.
