The deadly coronavirus continued to spread inside the Los Angeles Lakers camp, with Russell Westbrook and Avery Bradley the latest players to catch COVID-19. They entered the NBA's health and safety protocols on Thursday following their positive diagnosis and will miss multiple games as a result.
Lakers dealing with COVID-19 outbreak
That brings the total number of Los Angeles players in the COVID-19 protocols to four since the outbreak started. Talen Horton-Tucker and Dwight Howard tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday and were both placed on the league's safety protocols. There was some good news, though, for the Lakers as Malik Monk's earlier positive test proved to be a false positive. He is now eligible to play for the Lakers in their next game.
Westbrook and Bradley did not accompany the Lakers on their team flight to Minneapolis from Dallas. Westbrook's positive COVID-19 test is such a bummer for the Lakers as he is coming off one of his best games of the season. He nearly registered a triple-double in Wednesday's win against the Dallas Mavericks, scoring 23 points, grabbing 10 rebounds and dishing out 9 assists in 42 minutes of action.
Bradley is also a huge loss for the Lakers with the 12-year veteran averaging 5.8 points and 2.5 rebounds per game this season. He recorded five points, three rebounds and two steals in the win against the Mavericks.
To address their roster shortage, the Lakers asked the NBA for a hardship exemption, a mechanism the league introduced to allow teams to exceed their 15-man squad limit if dealing with illness or sickness to at least four players at the same time for a period of at least 14 days. That is definitely the case with the Lakers with Horton-Tucker, Howard, Westbrook and Bradley all sidelined because of COVID-19.
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Isaiah Thomas to sign with LA Lakers
If the league grants their request for a hardship exemption, the Lakers plan to sign free agent guard Isaiah Thomas on Friday to a 10-day contract. Thomas grabbed the headlines recently when he made a sensational debut in the G League, scoring 42 points in his first game for the Grand Rapids Gold.
This will be the second time Thomas will be donning the purple and gold. He played 17 games for LA during the 2017-18 season. Thomas last saw action in the NBA in the 2020-21 season when he was signed by the New Orleans Pelicans to a 10-day contract.
He played just three games during that short stint, averaging 7.7 points and 1.7 assists for the Pels. Thomas shot 33 percent from the field before being cut by New Orleans. Thomas hopes he can turn this second chance with the Lakers to a long-time gig. He has become a journeyman the past four seasons, playing just 87 games for five different teams.
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