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Tim BontempsESPN
As the NBA continues to grapple with the reality of trying to play the 2020-21 regular season amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the league sent a memo to the teams on Wednesday night detailing plans to try to complement the tests already implemented for players and referees with matchday tests located in all 28 NBA cities.
The memo, a copy of which was obtained by ESPN, asks each team to spend the next two days trying to find local test providers; the league plans to discuss these findings with the teams over the weekend with the aim of starting to implement the extra tests next week. The intention is to find a local polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing provider that can yield at least 40 tests – enough to deal with players from both teams, as well as that night’s referees – that could be collected in the morning of a game and returned at least an hour before the report.
PCR tests are more accurate than rapid tests, but take much longer to process.
While BioReference – which deals with the two daily tests the NBA is already using (PCR and a quick test) – will continue to be the league’s testing service, the goal of finding local tests in each city is to ensure that, if any a problem with transporting the tests, there is a backup option available to ensure everyone is free to play that night’s game.
In the current system, for players or referees to participate in a game, they must have a negative PCR test the day before the game and a negative quick test the morning of the game. So, for example, players and referees participating in Thursday’s game between the Miami Heat and the Philadelphia 76ers would need a negative PCR test done on Wednesday and a negative quick test done on Thursday morning.
The reason the PCR test is from the previous day is because there is a processing time of approximately 12 hours on these tests, so the results usually arrive overnight. In cities where there is a BioReference laboratory, however, these test results can be reversed more quickly.
The additional tests come in the wake of the NBA and National Basketball Players Association agreement on Tuesday to tighten the league’s health and safety protocols, including, among other things, closing rooms for non-members. team in hotels on the road, increasing the use of masks and further limiting team meeting times and contact with the player. All of this is being done as the NBA tries to play its season during a pandemic that continues to rage across the country and has significantly disrupted the league’s schedule in recent days.
The NBA has already postponed nine games this season, including eight just this week. Three of them were scheduled for Wednesday: Orlando Magic at the Boston Celtics; Utah Jazz at the Washington Wizards; and Atlanta Hawks at Phoenix Suns.