Last season, the NBA postponed a total of 30 games due to the pandemic. Now, the pandemic has swept through the NBA again, and the Bulls have become the first team this season to postpone games due to the pandemic.
On December 14, Beijing time, according to ESPN reporters, sources revealed that Bulls forward Aliz Johnson tested positive for the new crown, he has triggered the league's health and safety agreement and will miss many games in the future.
Counting Aliz Johnson, the Bulls have 10 players locked up in the "little black room" for triggering a health and safety agreement. The previous nine were Lavin, DeRozan, Troy Brown, Kobe White, Matt Thomas, Jawant Green, Derrick Jones Jr., Dawsum and Stanley Johnson.
The big list of 1 team is also "15 +2" players, more than half of the Bulls players have been diagnosed, and even the confirmed Stanley Johnson, or the "firefighter" just signed a few days ago, also fell.
Among them, DeRozan was confirmed to be infected on December 8, Jones Jr. was on December 10, and LaVine triggered the health and safety agreement on December 13. According to the regulations, the three people will be absent for at least 10 days.
Due to the team's excessive number of absences, the Bulls submitted an application to the league to postpone the game, and the league also agreed to the Bulls' request, and their games against the Pistons on Wednesday and against the Raptors on Friday have been postponed. It is also the first time this season that the league has seen a game postponement.
Bulls player Vucevic even retweeted the report and wrote: "Hey @Pistons, how about a 3v3? ”
Before the trade deadline last season, the Bulls exchanged a number of first-round picks for Vucevic, and signed a number of players including DeRozan, Brother Ball, and Caruso in the offseason.
This season, the Bulls have jumped up and become an important battle force in the East, and so far this season they are 17 wins and 10 losses in the Second Place in the East. If it were not for the absence of DeRozan and others, I believe their record would have been better.
After all, before DeRozan's absence, the Bulls won four games in a row, against the Hornets, Knicks, Nets and Nuggets. After DeRozan's absence, Tatum also took advantage of the situation to overtake the past.
Today Tatum scored 16 points in the fourth quarter and reached 194 points in the final quarter so far of the season, surpassing DeRozan (178 points) to rise to the first place in the league.
Now the Bulls have lost twice in a row, and due to the absence of many players, they have also fallen from the fourth place in the previous issue to the eighth place in the latest edition of the strength list.
Bulls coach Donovan commented on this in an interview, saying: "No matter how many games Lavin and DeRozan miss, they can give back in the playoffs. ”
At the same time, Donovan also said that the team needs to develop some good habits now, "When there is pressure, most teams will give up some good habits, and if at the end of the season, we don't develop good habits, then it is difficult for you to say in the time of suspension, 'Hey, let's stop the other side and grab the rebound better.'" If you don't habitually do this every night, then it's hard to achieve. And good play habits are where we need to keep building. ”
Obviously, the impact of the epidemic on the Bulls is not only a problem of the lineup is not only a problem, but also affects the chemistry of the team.
At the same time, it can be predicted that the Bulls are only the first team in the NBA to be affected by the epidemic. As of today, 46 players have entered into health and safety agreements this season, and 41 players have missed the game as a result. In the past two weeks, 31 players have triggered the agreement.
Although the NBA has not found a confirmed case of Aumicron at present, the league is not optimistic about the future. One Western Conference general manager said of whether Ormi Kerong would spread in the NBA: "Most of us think it's just a matter of time, not whether it's going to happen or not. ”
"It's a lot easier to manage than it was a year ago," said one Eastern general manager, "and generally speaking, the urgency is not as great as it was then, but things can change in a week or two, and the NBA has made that clear." ”
So far, about 200 players have been vaccinated with boosters, and that number will grow in the coming days. December 18 is the deadline for vaccination of booster needles, and for players who do not have vaccination booster needles, they will face stricter health and safety protocols, including matchday testing.
Staff who have not received a booster before 18 December will face restrictions on interacting with players, flying on the pitch and away from home.
NBA spokesman Mike Bass said in a statement: "As in the rest of the country, as our infectious disease experts predicted, we have seen an increase in cases in the coalition. Since the outbreak of the pandemic in March 2020, we will continue to focus on science and data and will work closely with the players' union to update the terms of our health and safety protocols as our medical experts deem appropriate. ”
Due to the NBA's high vaccination rates, daily testing is not mandatory for all vaccinated players and staff this season. But both the NBA and the players' union said the increase in cases around Thanksgiving also raised concerns, so every player and employee was tested every day from Nov. 28 to 30, including those who were vaccinated.
But one western executive expressed concern about the future: "If the restrictions are introduced again, it will be difficult to reach everyone, especially if the alliance's vaccination rate is so high." ”
Obviously, the Bulls are only the front line of the alliance's fight against the epidemic, but whether they can truly control the spread of the epidemic is difficult to guarantee.
It's worth mentioning that Shams, who spoke about the update on Irving on today's show, said: "As far as I know, Irving is training every day, he wants to play, he wants to play as soon as possible, his idea has always been so, he wants to play side by side with the team.
According to Shams, there was more and more communication between Durant and Irving after Thanksgiving, and everyone at the Nets wanted Irving to return as soon as possible, and Irving seemed to have the same idea.
Although the return date is undecided, at least Irving's return is a glimmer of hope.
At present, New York City has issued a statement that from December 27, local time, only those who have completed vaccination can participate in indoor gatherings, that is, Irving must complete vaccination if he wants to return to the field.
The mainstream vaccine in the United States now, one is Pfizer's two-shot vaccine, and the other is Johnson & Johnson's one-shot vaccine. Even if it is a single dose, it takes about 2 weeks to appear.
As for whether Irving can really return to the team, it is only a little bigger than the original opportunity.
Tomorrow's game also has a lot of benefits for everyone! As long as Curry breaks Ray Allen's three-point record, 30 genuine NBA jerseys and 60,000 Tencent Sports Mall coupons will be sent out in the live broadcast! Don't miss it, let's witness history together!
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