The NBA and National Basketball Players Association are near an agreement to reduce the 10-day quarantine periods for COVID-positive players, sources told ESPN on Thursday.
The arrangement — expected to soon be shared with teams — could return some players to active play in as soon as six days based upon testing procedures, sources said.
It is immediately unclear how the looming protocol change might impact rosters for the league’s high-profile Christmas Day slate of games on Saturday.
The NBA, which is following a similar NFL protocol change, has been following the guidance of both league and union infectious disease specialists. The NBA has also been studying recent research in the UK and elsewhere.
Like the country and world, the NBA has felt the wrath of the omicron variant, which commissioner Adam Silver told ESPN’s Malika Andrews on NBA Today was responsible for as much as 90% of the league’s recent rash of COVID cases.
The NBA has had 141 players entered into health and safety protocols this season, including 127 in December. There have been 130 player entries in December overall, as three players have now entered the protocols multiple times this month.
ESPN’s Baxter Holmes contributed to this report.
