Coronavirus: Denver Nuggets close facility after positive tests
Nuggets confirm third member of staff has tested positive since the weekend; New Orleans Pelicans confirm three of their players have tested positive for COVID-19
Tuesday 30 June 2020 22:43, UK
The Denver Nuggets closed their training facility over the weekend after two members of their party that was set to travel to Orlando for the NBA season's restart tested positive for coronavirus.
The Nuggets confirmed on Tuesday that a third member of the team has tested positive since the weekend, but that all three of the affected individuals are asymptomatic.
The Denver Post and ESPN initially reported that the team's 35-person party made up of players, coaches and staff was tested on Saturday.
Neither the reports, nor the team, have specified who tested positive and it remains unclear whether the facility will be reopened before the team travels to Orlando.
Last week, the league said 16 of 302 players had tested positive for COVID-19 and were in self-isolation.
The team was set to travel on July 7 to Florida where the NBA plans to restart the suspended season on July 30 at Disney World, with all games, practices and housing at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex inside the Orlando resort.
Nuggets coach Michael Malone said this month that he tested positive for the novel coronavirus in March while center Nikola Jokic tested positive in Serbia last week.
The Nuggets are third in the Western Conference standings, behind the Los Angeles Lakers and the Los Angeles Clippers, and they are scheduled to play the Miami Heat on August 1 in their first game after the hiatus.
Three New Orleans Pelicans players have also tested positive for coronavirus, team executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin announced on Tuesday.
Griffin did not reveal the identities of the players but said they are in isolation and undergoing daily tests with the ability to return to the team after two days of negative tests.
Griffin, who is a cancer survivor, also said he will join the team in Orlando, while coach Alvin Gentry, 65, told reporters on a Zoom call Tuesday that "my plan is to be with the team in Orlando, and I'm looking forward to it."
The Pelicans reside in 10th place in the Western Conference with a 28-36 record. They sit 3.5 games back of the eighth-seeded Memphis Grizzlies.
