Jan 6, 2021; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard Seth Curry (31) passes the ball against the Washington Wizards during the third quarter at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Philadelphia 76ers guard Seth Curry returned a positive test for COVID-19 on Thursday as his team’s NBA clash with the Brooklyn Nets got underway, US media reported.
ESPN, citing unnamed league sources, said the 76ers would remain overnight in New York and begin contact tracing on Friday morning, along with a new round of testing.
The team did not immediately confirm a positive test.
Curry, brother of Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry, sat out the 76ers’ loss to the Nets with a sore left ankle.
But he spent the first quarter of the game on the 76ers bench before departing the Barclays Center arena separately from the rest of the team.
However, Curry played Wednesday for the 76ers, scoring 28 points in a 141-136 victory over the Washington Wizards in Philadelphia.
The 76ers are next scheduled to play on Saturday, when they are slated to host the Denver Nuggets.
Earlier Thursday, the NBA and the players’ union announced that of 498 players tested for COVID-19 since December 30, four had returned confirmed positive tests.
Since opening the 2020-21 campaign on December 22, the league has enforced strict protocols which require not only those who test positive but also those who return inconclusive tests to quarantine, along with any players who are deemed through contact tracing to have been exposed to the virus.
A December 23 game between the Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder was postponed after three Houston players returned coronavirus tests that were either positive or inconclusive.
With other players quarantined due to possible exposure or violation of league injunctions against attending indoor gatherings, the Rockets didn’t have the minimum eight players available for the contest.