A member of the LA Clippers traveling party has tested positive for COVID-19.
As tweeted out by Adrian Wojnarowski on Twitter, the LA Clippers group traveling to Orlando has been confirmed to have at least one positive COVID-19 test, and as a precaution, the practice facilities have been closed.
In what has been the worst news to hit the LA Clippers all off-season, Wojnarowski has confirmed that both the team and the organization have taken a blow from the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic that has halted not only every sports league but most assets of everyday life.
After a positive test for the coronavirus in the Los Angeles Clippers traveling party headed to Orlando next week, the organization closed its practice facility to players and staff as a precaution today, sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 3, 2020
Luckily, both the organization and the NBA as a whole seem to have plenty of tests for the disease to catch it early, but even if it is caught while being asymptomatic, there isn’t much that can be done about it. This news comes just twenty-eight days short of when the NBA season was supposed to resume in Orlando.
The Clippers had already clinched a playoff-berth and held the second seed in the Western Conference with a 44-20 record and a .688 win percentage when this news broke, and now their future in Orlando is full of uncertainty. That uncertainty is even more present now than earlier this week when Lou Williams‘ presence was being debated with the team for the restart.
As of now, there has been no more new information about how many positive tests came back, or even which people tested positive, but the most important subject right now is the safety of the players, the staff, and all of their families.
Closing the training facilities was an intelligent precaution from the higher-ups, and now all that is left to do is send good thoughts towards everyone on the Clippers and anyone else in the NBA taking the risk of participating in the restart.