#NBA unveils 134-page COVID-19 safety protocol for new season

NBA players who get infected with COVID-19 during the upcoming season will be benched for at least 12 days, according to a 134-page safety protocol proposed by the league.

News of the proposed rules, which still has to be approved by players, surfaced in the Los Angeles Times just days ahead of the opening of training camps next week.

Under the rules, any player diagnosed with coronavirus will have to isolate for 10 days after they start having symptoms or after a positive test result.

They will have to go 24 hours without a fever or fever-reducing meds, and have two negative test results at least 24 hours apart before they could return to the game, according to the Times’ report.

But that’s not all: under the guidelines, even after their 10-day quarantine, infected players would have to work out — masked and alone — for two days, during which they’d submit to cardiac checks.

Meanwhile, even healthy athletes and staffers will need to submit three consecutive days of negative COVID-19 tests before they’ll be admitted into team facilities.

Daily testing and screening is also mandated under the league’s plan.

On the plus side, a small number of cases apparently wouldn’t shut down the season, which is set to begin Dec. 22 for 72 games.

“The occurrence of independent cases or a small or otherwise expected number of COVID-19 cases will not require a decision to suspend or cancel the 2020-21 season,” the 134-page manual said.