NBA teams that break the rules that seek to reduce the spread of the coronavirus this season could face serious penalties, such as losing games on the table or being stripped of draft picks, the league warned on Saturday.
He added that, together with the basketball players’ union, he will discuss the possibility that players, coaches and other team employees are required to receive the coronavirus vaccine when it is available. The NBA said teams should encourage their athletes and other personnel to get flu shots.
Likewise, he warned that, from now on, the personnel of “layers one and two”, which basically includes all essential players, coaches and employees, must refrain from visiting bars, lounges or clubs, even if only to eat. You also shouldn’t go to live shows, casinos, public gyms, spas, or swimming pools.
Gatherings of 15 people or more indoors are also prohibited.
The rules will apply regardless of whether the teams are home or away, the NBA said. Pre-season games begin on Friday, and the regular season begins on December 22.
The protocols document, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, includes more details than the draft distributed to teams last weekend. The rules and protocols in the updated document – which even gives examples of how occupants should be distributed on planes and buses – were defined by consensus of the NBA and the union.
“From what we’ve been told, obviously the main thing is the daily testing,” Philadelphia forward Tobias Harris said earlier this week as protocols were being defined. “And the boys will have mutual responsibility to be safe and not to expose themselves to outsiders. For me, this is a bit confusing, because you never know what can happen. You can go to a store and get infected somehow, right? So I think there are little defined limits, but I think we should do our best to follow the protocols ”.
Starting this Sunday, the diagnostic testing program begins that will include close relatives of the players, if they so wish. The drummers and coaches will undergo daily tests, and 48 have already tested positive, even before the opening of the practice camps.
The NBA has asked teams to work with BioReference, the league’s provider, to offer voluntary swab testing to everyone close to members of strata one and two, a couple of times a week.
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