During the 2021 NBA Finals, at least 12 people close to the Bucks and Suns tested positive for COVID-19, according to the report.

At least a dozen employees, family members, and associates of Milwaukee Bucks and Phoenix Suns test positive for COVID-19 in 2021 NBA Finals in July follow a Rolling Stone Matt Sullivan’s story.

Rolling Stone report that:

• Six of those who tested positive were team employees, including members of the Bucks’ coaching staff and medical staff. There are also family members and associates of the players, plus Milwaukee’s Thanasis Antetokounmpo, who participated in health and safety protocols prior to Game 5.
• Final MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo Vaccination status is a secret known only to a handful of people trusted in the Bucks franchise. Giannis said at media day in September that he had been vaccinated, but the story implied that this was not the case a few months earlier. “We are very concerned that Giannis Not ” Just make sure Giannis tests negative.“(Players who have been vaccinated are not required to isolate for exposure.)
• Milwaukee did not let the player’s family and associates accompany the team during the first three rounds of the knockout round, but chartered a second plane for the purpose during the Finals. The first two games were in Phoenix, where the Bucks hosted two family dinners, one indoors at a steakhouse.
• A former Suns team doctor says they have “dropped our defenses.” Brady Howe, the team’s senior director of health and performance, said, “As the game progressed, we saw that a number of scenarios could have been worked out – just rumors between two teams that you you know, maybe some people are affected. It feels like teams are still playing it every day, narrowly trying to skate.” However, Howe said that the virus is not spreading to players or essential staff. An NBA official traveling with the Bucks said, “Heard that the Suns also have problems, a bit scary. Finals.”
• The Bucks didn’t fly the second team’s plane to Phoenix for Game 5.
• Thanasis was ruled out for 5 hours before the match started and he showed symptoms. At the same time, an assistant coach, two members of the medical team and a staff member on the road tested positive. A former employee said that many assistant coaches are not on the bench because they are identified as people with close relationships.
• After the Bucks’ championship march on July 22, which is two days after they won the title in Game 6, several others connected to the team became infected with COVID-19. “Once we won, everyone forgot that there was COVID,” said the senior Milwaukee official. “All protocols were out the window.”

The story shows that the NBA dodged a bullet four months ago. A senior Bucks employee was quoted using that exact phrase, adding that the team “didn’t know who else would come forward positively” after Thanasis did.

Basically, the position of the tournament is the system that worked. In response to the COVID Delta variant that is spreading at an alarming rate, it has increased some of its restrictions.

“Due to high vaccination rates, improvements to our protocol – including increasing the frequency of testing, re-inserting masks at team facilities for all players, and limiting the number of staff members can player interaction – and due diligence from the Bucks’ and the Suns players and staff, we were able to prevent any transmission of coronavirus between the players and complete the Finals safely. safe,” said David Weiss, senior vice president of player affairs for the NBA.

“There’s been no outbreak,” Weiss said, adding that the league never considered postponing a Final. However, the NBA official traveling with the Bucks says the team is not worried about the possibility of a postponement, but rather the possibility that Giannis will have to join his brother in health and safety protocols – and miss the part. remainder of the series. Rolling Stone Citing team officials on both sides, describing panic, frustration with uncooperative family members and, in the hours leading up to Game 6, “a lot of anxiety” as they awaited the results of the test. check.