NBA Coach Reveals Testing Positive For COVID-19, Hopes For Safe Environment In Orlando

Denver Nuggets head coach Mike Malone revealed he tested positive for the Coronavirus just barely a week after the NBA suspended the season in March. With the season set to resume late in July in Orlando, the 48-year-old is hoping the league would ensure the bubble would be a safe environment for everyone.

One interesting revelation, though, was the fact that Malone did not know he was a confirmed case until after two months when he started to feel ill.

“On March 20 I started not feeling well,” Malone told Michael Spencer of CBS Denver. “We reached out to our team doctors to see if I could get a test, but unfortunately at that time, there were no tests available. I only found out after the fact. I was able to get an antibody test probably right around Memorial Day weekend and not surprisingly our team doctor called up that weekend and told me I tested positive.”

Just around the time of Malone’s first symptom, the Nuggets organization announced that a member of the team tested positive for the deadly virus. The anonymous subject reportedly had started to show symptoms on March 16 before the official diagnosis was released three days later.

“It’s interesting on some people on our team, traveling party and staff got it,” Malone said. “I hope going to Orlando will be a safe environment and we can limit the amount of people who get it.”

Right now, the veteran bench tactician is just glad that he was able to ultimately recover from the disease.

“I like to say that I got coronavirus and I kicked its butt,” he said.

The Nuggets will be entering the Walt Disney World bubble as a third-seeded team in the Western Conference with a 43-22 record.

The blueprint for the season restart, however, is facing a strange challenge as some players are expressing their disapproval of the plan. Players like Kyrie Irving and Dwight Howard have said the resumption of games would just be a distraction to their active fight for social justice in light of the black community’s protests spurred by the death of George Floy.

Commissioner Adam Silver said he understands that "the plan is not for everyone" and vowed to address the issue as the league zeroes in on the target restart date.