The NBA has postponed its first games of the 2021-2022 season after a Covid outbreak within the Chicago Bulls led to the team having 10 players currently in protocol. The NBA has announced it is postponing Chicago’s games against the Detroit Pistons (on Tuesday, Dec. 14) and Toronto Raptors (on Thursday, Dec. 16). The league has yet to announce when those games will be made up.
Bulls games postponed vs. Pistons and Raptors after Covid outbreak
The NBA has postponed its first games of the season because of the Bulls’ Covid outbreak.
Photo by Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images
Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
NBA teams need eight active players to play, and the Bulls were hovering around that number with so many players in protocol. Chicago is also without forward Patrick Williams because of a wrist injury, and has seen guard Alex Caruso in and out of the lineup with a hamstring injury.
How bad is the outbreak in Chicago? Even two of the team’s announcers tested positive.
The Bulls were rolling before the Covid outbreak, moving all the way up to No. 2 in the Eastern Conference behind a four-game winning streak. The team has lost its last two games as the outbreak has worsened.
Here’s a list of Bulls players currently in protocol:
- DeMar DeRozan
- Zach LaVine
- Coby White
- Troy Brown Jr.
- Alize Johnson
- Stanley Johnson
- Ayo Dosunmu
- Javonte Green
- Derrick Jones Jr.
- Matt Thomas
The Bulls were already without Nikola Vucevic for 10 days earlier this season after he was placed in protocol. Vucevic was trying to keep his sense of humor during a tough situation earlier in the day before the Pistons game was postponed.
Chicago’s next game is against the Lakers on Sunday, Dec. 19.
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