The Detroit Pistons announced, without naming the specific player that a member of their roster has tested positive for coronavirus. That player has been identified, by multiple outlets, as forward Christian Wood. And it’s also been confirmed by his agent, Adam Pensack, who told The Detroit News his client “feels 100-percent fine.”
The big man was matched up, exactly one week ago, against the Utah Jazz’s Rudy Gobert- the first NBA player to test positive for COVID-19. The second player to test positive was Gobert’s teammate, Donovan Mitchell, making Wood the third NBA player to have contracted coronavirus.
The Pistons statement in full is below:
A player on the Detroit Pistons, who is under the care of team medical staff and in self-isolation since Wednesday night, was tested for COVID-19.
A preliminary positive result came back on March 14. The health and safety of our players, our organization, those throughout our league, and all those potentially impacted by this situation is paramount.
We are working closely with team medical staff, state and local government and public health officials and the NBA on reporting. The individual will remain in isolation and under the care of team medical staff.
Also, you may be wondering how exactly the Jazz were able to get testing kits at a time when so few people in this country can.
Well, the answer is actually, even a lot worse than you thought.
See below:
So it turns out the Utah Jazz didn’t buy these tests privately.
Instead, the state of Oklahoma used 60% of their daily test capacity (100 tests) on testing players and staff from an NBA team. https://t.co/uYZZRhSaqY
— Sawyer Hackett (@SawyerHackett) March 14, 2020
That’s America for you!
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
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