Miami Heat rules out eight players because of COVID-19 protocols. Where things stand
The Miami Heat will field a very short-handed roster for at least the next several days because of COVID-19 issues.
The NBA’s COVID-19 contact-tracing investigation will result in a handful of Heat players missing time, according to multiple league sources. In addition, at least one Heat player has tested positive for COVID-19 in recent days.
On Monday evening’s NBA-mandated injury report, the Heat listed eight players as out for Tuesday’s road game against the Philadelphia 76ers because of the league’s health and safety protocols: Bam Adebayo, Avery Bradley, Jimmy Butler, Goran Dragic, Moe Harkless, Udonis Haslem, Kendrick Nunn and KZ Okpala.
The Heat did not identify who has tested positive for COVID-19.
Miami also listed center Meyers Leonard (left shoulder strain) as questionable for Tuesday’s contest, and center Kelly Olynyk (left groin contusion) and two-way contract guard Gabe Vincent (right knee soreness) as probable.
The Heat’s game against the 76ers at Wells Fargo Center is still on track to be played Tuesday at 7 p.m., but the situation remains fluid. The NBA requires teams to have eight available players to proceed with games.
The Heat will be very close to that eight-player threshold, with only these six players not on Monday’s injury report and currently available to play in Tuesday’s contest: Tyler Herro, Duncan Robinson, Precious Achiuwa, Andre Iguodala, Chris Silva and Max Strus.
To reach the NBA minimum of eight available players and avoid the postponement of Tuesday’s game, the Heat needs at least two of its three injured players — Leonard, Olynyk and Vincent — to be available for the contest.
In addition, one Heat staff member has been included on the list of those impacted by the NBA’s health and safety protocols, according to a league source. But it is not a coach.
The Heat’s team flight left Boston at around 9 p.m. on Monday to head to Philadelphia for Tuesday and Thursday’s games against the 76ers.
But Heat players who were found to be close contacts to an infected person were flown back to Miami on Monday night. Those who test positive for the virus can also be flown back to Miami using an air ambulance.
Players who are determined to be close contacts are expected to be sidelined for seven days in most cases, but the required quarantine could vary from case to case. Players who test positive for the virus likely have to miss at least about two weeks.
The Heat has three games scheduled this week: Tuesday at 76ers, Thursday at 76ers and Saturday vs. Detroit Pistons. Miami is 4-4 this season after Saturday’s road win over the Washington Wizards.
There is a possibility that Heat players who are out because of contact tracing purposes could return for Saturday’s game against the Pistons if they continue to return negative tests.
This news comes after the NBA was forced to postpone the Heat’s game against the Boston Celtics scheduled for Sunday night at TD Garden. The Heat stayed in Boston overnight as the NBA completed its contact tracing investigation.
On Sunday, the Heat didn’t have the required eight available players to proceed with its game against the Celtics. Enough of Miami’s roster would have been forced to miss the game amid the ongoing contact tracing investigation after Bradley was ruled out earlier Sunday because of the league’s health and safety protocols.
How does the NBA determine who’s a close contact?
The NBA follows CDC guidance, which defines close contacts as any individual who has been within six feet of an infected person for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period starting from two days before illness onset for symptomatic individuals or two days before the positive test was conducted for asymptomatic individuals.
But there are multiple factors that can play a role in determining whether somebody is a close contact and how long a potential quarantine needs to be like the duration of the exposure, how close the interaction was, the location of the interaction, whether the infected person was symptomatic during the interaction and whether masks were worn.
A big part of the investigation is the case interview, which is when the league and a member of the team’s contact-tracing working group interviews the person who tested positive or returned an inconclusive test. This is done to assess the individual’s medical condition and gather information on any prior known exposures to any other individuals such as teammates, coaches, team staff and opposing players.
To help provide supplementary information during the contact-tracing investigation, the NBA recently began requiring players, coaches and some team staff to wear Kinexon SafeZone contact sensor devices during all team-organized activities outside of games, including practices. The sensor activates when coming within six feet to another person wearing one, and records the distance and duration of in-person interactions.
The NBA is also using Second Spectrum cameras in arenas to track interactions during the course of a game, but the early results indicate that players do not get anywhere close to reaching the 15-minute threshold of cumulative close contact during a game. But those few minutes of close contact on the court could be added to off-court interactions that end up totaling to 15 minutes or more in a 24-hour period.
Ultimately, doctors and epidemiologists in consultation with the NBA determine who’s a close contact and how long they must quarantine for based on the information provided by the investigation.
The Heat isn’t the only team dealing with COVID-19 issues at the moment.
The Celtics ruled out nine players for Sunday’s game before it was postponed, which means they were on track to have the NBA minimum of eight available players against the Heat. Seven of those players would have been unavailable because of the league’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols.
The 76ers are currently without guard Seth Curry, who reportedly tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday. Philadelphia also had to play Monday’s game against the Atlanta Hawks without Tobias Harris, Shake Milton, Matisse Thybulle and Vincent Poirier because of contact tracing, and they are all expected to miss Tuesday’s game against the Heat, too.
Also, the Dallas Mavericks have four players who tested positive for COVID-19 in recent days, according to ESPN.
As a result, the NBA was forced to postpone games scheduled for Monday night between the New Orleans Pelicans and Mavericks at American Airlines Center and Tuesday night between the Celtics and Chicago Bulls at United Center because of health and safety protocols. Four NBA games have now been postponed this season because of COVID-19 issues, including the three that have been postponed since Sunday.
The NBA was scheduled to meet with the National Basketball Players Association on Monday about modifying the league’s health and safety protocols.
“We anticipated that there would be game postponements this season and planned the schedule accordingly,” NBA spokesman Mike Bass said in a statement distributed to various outlets on Sunday. “There are no plans to pause the season, and we will continue to be guided by our medical experts and health and safety protocols.”
The NBA only released the first half of the regular-season schedule, which runs until March 4, and the second-half schedule will include the remainder of each team’s 72 games not scheduled in the first half and any games postponed during the first half that can “reasonably be added” to the second half.
This story was originally published January 11, 2021 at 3:01 PM.
