Many superstars are being affected by COVID and the National Basketball Association’s health and safety protocols. The league commissioner Adam Silver had strongly advised that players should get vaccinated before the season started and that caused a bit of chaos between Brooklyn Nets Superstar Kyrie Irving and the team due to Irving not wanting to comply with the NBA recommendation and the New York mandate.

Kyrie Irving decided to sit the beginning of the season out due to personal reasons of not wanting to take the COVID vaccine. Players like Bradley Beal who is playing without the vaccine has also been affected by COVID in the beginning of the season but was able to start with the team.

Star players like DeMar DeRozan, Zach Lavine, Lamarcus Aldridge, Kyle Kuzma and former league MVP’s Giannis Antetokoumnpo and James Harden have recently entered COVID protocols within the past week and their teams have had a struggle without them on the court.

For players who enter COVID protocols, those who are vaccinated must isolate for a minimum of 10 days or return two negative COVID test results within 24 to 48 hours. LeBron James, who had previously tested positive, found out that the test was incorrect and returned 2 negative results and was able to come back and play with the Los Angeles Lakers.

On December 14th both Giannis Antetokounmpo and James Harden entered COVID protocols and are going to miss a couple of games unless they test negative in 24 to 48 hours. On December 13th, two games were postponed by the NBA due to the Chicago Bulls having more than nine players in protocols and not having eight or more players to participate vs the Detroit Pistons. Since then, many games have been postponed and cancelled.

A small outbreak of a COVID case that took place on March 11, 2020 led to the league being suspended by commissioner Adam Silver and also caused the NBA to play in the ESPN sports plex in Orlando for safety reasons.

The vaccine recommendation caused a bit of concern and trouble from players and COVID is making a big impact on the safety and health of teams and it’s players. It might not take long for commissioner Adam Silver to put the league on pause for a couple of days or weeks if the COVID outbreak continues to rise within the NBA.