Starting guards LaMelo Ball and Terry Rozier and two other Charlotte Hornets players entered the NBA’s health and safety protocols Saturday.
Starting center Mason Plumlee and reserve forward Jalen McDaniels were also placed in the COVID-19 protocols. The team did not specify whether the players had tested positive or divulge their vaccination status.
Charlotte (13-11) has lost three straight games and will be severely shorthanded when it concludes a four-game road trip Sunday against the Atlanta Hawks.
Ball, 20, has started all 24 games and is averaging 20.0 points, 8.3 assists and 7.7 rebounds. He was the 2020-21 NBA Rookie of the Year.
Rozier, 27, has started 19 games and is averaging 17.7 points, 3.6 assists and 3.5 rebounds.
Plumlee, 31, is contributing 6.8 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 20 games (all starts). He did not play in the Hornets’ most recent game, Wednesday’s 127-125 loss at Milwaukee, due to a calf injury.
McDaniels, 23, is averaging 5.5 points and 3.3 rebounds in 22 games off the bench.
–Field Level Media