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Celtics forward Jabari Parker enters health and safety protocols as COVID cases rip through NBA
Parker is hardly alone, as multiple teams are dealing with significant outbreaks.
Celtics forward Jabari Parker is in health and safety protocols per the Celtics, as COVID cases spike around the NBA.
Following Celtics practice on Thursday, coach Ime Udoka said both Parker and Romeo Langford missed practice because they “didn’t feel well.” Langford — who tested positive for COVID in April — was not listed on the Celtics’ injury report.
Parker is hardly alone. A host of cases hit the NBA on Thursday, as multiple players were forced into protocols including De’Aaron Fox and Bobby Portis. The Bulls suspended all team activities on Monday due to an outbreak that had 10 players in health and safety protocols.
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“I think the league is trying to do everything it can possibly do to play games and also keep teams safe and healthy,” Bulls coach Billy Donovan told ESPN. “I don’t know what the right number is in order to say this team should play or this team shouldn’t play. Certainly, we got hit really hard with this and we lost a lot of players. Other teams have been hit a little bit, but not as much. I’ve always said this, when you lose key players off your team, it definitely impacts you.
“With the surge that’s going on right now, I think the league is probably in the process of figuring out how they’re going to go about testing everybody else in the league. And certainly when you do more testing like that, you’re going to come across more guys that are going to test positive.”
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The Celtics had a similar outbreak last year in January when the NBA paused their season for three games — one due to an outbreak on the opposing team and two due to the Celtics’ own cases. Jayson Tatum was one of the positive cases, and he later told reporters he needed an inhaler for the rest of the season to deal with shortness of breath.
The Celtics play the Warriors on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
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