In a time where good news is hard to come by, we finally do have a glimmer: NBA players who were infected by coronavirus are recovering.
The waves of bad news in the world these days seem to be an unceasing force. Fortunately in the NBA, there is a tide of positivity to counter just a little bit of the darkness that surrounds us. Just over two weeks after coronavirus became a reality that shut down the NBA, players who tested positive for the virus are making full recoveries.
Beginning with Rudy Gobert‘s positive test result just before tip between the Utah Jazz and the Oklahoma City Thunder, a steady stream of players have tested positive (there’s no reason to think Gobert was the originator of infection, nor that he was necessarily the first to get infected, and it also doesn’t matter at all anyway).
Among the known names to test positive include Gobert’s teammate Donovan Mitchell, Detroit Pistons big man Christian Wood, Marcus Smart of the Boston Celtics and Kevin Durant of the Brooklyn Nets. There are a number of unknown players to test positive as well. Three of Durant’s Nets teammates tested positive, as well as two unnamed Los Angeles Lakers players and an unnamed member of the Denver Nuggets.
In recent days it’s been learned that a scout for the Pistons and a cameraman for Fox Sports Detroit who covered the Pistons’ last home game are both in dire health straits with coronavirus.
Earlier this week, Christian Wood became the first NBA player infected with coronavirus to make a full recovery. He was followed up on Friday by both Gobert and Mitchell.
NBA players are in exceptional health and are blessed with wealth and resources not available to the general public through their own means and those of their teams, so, fortunately, they are typically not at significant risk. That said, it’s a great relief to see the first wave of known infected players making recoveries.
Hopefully the rest of those infected will follow suit in short order.