Windhorst: NBA Has Information Blackout Right Now

While there have been a number of positive COVID-19 tests reported amongst players this week, we do not know the full extent of the virus within the NBA community. Many within the media have speculated there’s been large numbers of positive tests both in March and more recently in June that have not been reported by the media.

“We’re in a bit of a difficult spot in the media here because we don’t have access to the teams right now,” said Brian Windhorst on his podcast. “We’re not permitted into the facilities so we can’t go in there. One of the things you do is you physically count who’s there. We’re not going to be able to know who got sick. And I respect that they have privacy that we shouldn’t necessarily be reporting on guys getting sick like this, however, the teams have not been announcing. Some teams have made announcements, but most teams have not. 

“And so we really don’t know how many people actually are sick and we’re not going to have access to them for a long time. So what’s happening with this virus in the league right now is under a shroud. We don’t know how much it is. And as I talk to some teams out there, you know, this sounds a little bit crude, but some teams are saying, ‘Look, we have guys that are positive. It’s okay, because we want to identify them.’

“I’m not saying the NBA is trying to achieve herd immunity, but when they setup their schedule, they clearly built in time for guys to test and quarantine before they go to Florida. That’s why the quarantine is now. Or why the testing was this week and you don’t go to Florida until July 7th, 8th or 9th. They built in time for people to be identified and to be quarantined.

“Adam Silver has not given a press conference in… two months? He’s had some media appearances. He’s done an interview with Ernie Johnson. He did an interview with Mike Greenberg. But he’s not sat there and faced questions for two months. When they announced that the owners had passed the measure to move on to restart the season, they said he would be available within a few days. Well, that’s been almost three weeks.

“And like I’m not pointing a finger and saying there’s something nefarious going on. There’s an information blackout right now. Because of the rules of the road, we’re not able to really infiltrate it. So I can’t really accurately tell you where the league is with this virus. And I don’t know how long it’s going to be until I can. I don’t know whether that should be concerning or not… It would also be good to know exactly how the NBA is managing this and I don’t have a good feel for it.”