It has not been a great start to the summer for the Team USA basketball team heading into the Olympics. That now includes Bradley Beal not taking the trip to Tokyo after he entered COVID-19 protocols earlier in the week.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Team USA is working to replace Beal as it prepares for the Olympic opener against France on July 25.
In addition to this, fellow Team USA member Jerami Grant has entered said protocols after being deemed a close contact with Beal. It is being noted that Grant has not tested positive for COVID-19.
To say that this isn’t great news would be an understatement. The squad currently sits at 1-2 during its exhibition slate with ugly losses to Nigeria and Australia.
Attempting to find some cohesion in such a short period of time has proven to be difficult for Gregg Popovich and Co. Now that one of their top stars is out for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, this is magnified even further.
As for protocols for Team USA, it’s not yet known whether Bradley Beal was vaccinated from the virus. The International Olympic Committee is encouraging — but not mandating — athletes get vaccinated before competing. It’s also not known whether Beal had been vaccinated. However, we’ve seen breakthrough cases around the sports world.
