A potential COVID-19 outbreak within the Houston Rockets organization had led to NBA news suggesting that the Thunder-Rockets season opener slated for Wednesday evening in Texas could be in jeopardy.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, there was talk that the game could be postponed after Rockets rookie KJ Martin tested positive for the virus.
That’s now come to fruition.
NBA news: Thunder-Rockets season opener postponed
NBA rules mandate that the Rockets must have eight players in uniform in order to play the game. The statuses of new acquisitions DeMarcus Cousins and John Wall remained in question before the NBA announcing that said game had been postponed.
All of this comes with NBA news suggesting that the league and Rockets are investigating an incident surrounding embattled guard James Harden. Said incident allegedly shows Harden partying at a strip club in violation of COVID-19 protocols.
That comes after he violated said protocols to party in Georgia and Las Vegas when the Rockets training camp began this past fall. For his part, Harden has tested negative for COVID-19 twice.
As you likely already know, Harden is attempting to force a trade from the Rockets. Right now, the situation between the three-time reigning scoring champ and his organization is said to be toxic.
Related: If you’re a fan of the Rockets, check out #Rockets rumors, rankings, and news here
As for the NBA as a whole, this is the first example of the complexities that come with attempting to play a season amid a growing pandemic in the United States.
The Association had a tremendous amount of success during its restart in the Orlando bubble at Walt Disney world after the season itself was suspended back in March due to the pandemic itself.
Right now, the NBA is attempting to play games in home venues. The season tipped off Tuesday night with the Brooklyn Nets defeating the Golden State Warriors in dominating fashion.
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