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Tim BontempsESPN
As the NBA continues the reality of the effort to play the 2020-21 regular season amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the league sent a memorandum to teams Wednesday night outlining plans to test what has already been done. for players and referees with localized Test Day in all 28 NBA cities.
The memo, a copy of which was obtained by ESPN, asks each team to spend the next two days finding local test providers; the league plans to discuss the findings with the teams over the weekend with the aim of starting to implement the extra tests somewhere next week. The intention is to find a local provider of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests that can pass at least 40 tests – enough to handle players in both teams as well as the judges of that night – that morning of a match can be collected and returned at least one hour before tipoff.
PCR tests are more accurate than the fast tests, but it takes much longer to process.
While BioReference – which handles both the daily tests already used by the NBA (PCR and a quick test) – will continue to be the league’s testing service, the aim is to find local tests in each city, to ensure that if ‘ is a problem with transporting tests, there is a backup option available to ensure that everyone clearly participates in the evening’s game.
According to the current system, players or referees must participate in a match, perform a negative PCR test from the day before the match and a negative fast test from the morning of the match. For example, players and referees participating in Thursday’s game between the Miami Heat and Philadelphia 76ers will have to do a negative PCR test on Wednesday and a negative fast test on Thursday morning.
The reason why the PCR test is the previous day is because there is about 12 hours of processing time on the tests, so the results usually come in overnight. However, in cities where there is a BioReference laboratory, the test results can be reversed more quickly.
The additional testing comes in the wake of the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association, which on Tuesday agreed to tighten the league’s health and safety protocols, including closing rooms for non-team guests in hotels on the road, which the use of masks and limiting both time meetings and contact with players. This is all being done while the NBA is trying to play its season during a pandemic that is still raging in the country and has significantly disrupted the league’s schedule over the past few days.
The NBA has now postponed nine games this season, of which only eight this week. Three of them would be scheduled for Wednesday: Orlando Magic at Boston Celtics; Utah Jazz by Washington Wizards; and Atlanta Hawks at Phoenix Suns.