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Sixers guard Seth Curry returned a positive test for the coronavirus, which the team learned of near the start of a loss in Brooklyn tonight, sources tell ESPN. He went to an isolation room immediately, and thereafter left arena separate from team.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 8, 2021
Philadelphia 76ers guard Seth Curry tested positive for coronavirus on Thursday night. Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the team learned of the news near the start of the Brooklyn Nets game.
Woj went on to report that the entire Sixers’ team is staying the night in New York as the team will commence contact tracing.
This is quite a wild sequence of events to say the least. While details are sure to develop with time, I question why the Sixers even played the Brooklyn game while knowing that this was a developing problem with the team. If that was indeed the case — which it seems to be — it was a very reckless decision to continue with the game while putting players on both teams at risk.
Curry played in Wednesday night’s game with several Sixers and Washington Wizards players. The scale of how many people may have been exposed to the virus is pretty big. He also traveled with the team to Brooklyn and even sat on the Sixers’ bench for the first quarter until it was known he tested positive for COVID.
Curry spent the first quarter on bench before Sixers were made aware of a positive test, sources said. Curry then left the court-area and headed into isolation.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 8, 2021
Seth Curry was wearing a mask during his time spent on the bench. However, multiple Sixers who subbed in and out during the first quarter were close to him without wearing masks. Joel Embiid was one of several players that was in proximity of Curry.
Excuse the blurry screenshots here, but looking back through the first quarter footage tonight.
— Kyle Neubeck (@KyleNeubeck) January 8, 2021
Seth Curry was the only player on the first row of the bench to start the game. As time wore on, other guys (including Embiid right next to him unmasked) were much closer pic.twitter.com/AZqYWUOpYs
Reports later came out that Joel Embiid intends to self quarantine from this until he’s certain that he didn’t contract the virus.
Sixers All Star center Joel Embiid, who has a three-month-old-son, told ESPN he plans to self quarantine from his family until he is certain he didn’t contract the virus. Embiid sat next to Curry during the game. https://t.co/UXpdKZxp7g
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) January 8, 2021
The status of the Sixers’ Saturday game against the Denver Nuggets is likely up in the air as of now. We will likely know which Sixers will have to quarantine over the next week as the team conducts contract tracing on Friday. Depending on the number of players quarantined, we could see anywhere from one to a few games postponed.
As details arise, we will keep you updated on this developing story. Hopefully this won’t result in any additional players on the Sixers or other teams getting the virus.