Lakers Tested For COVID-19 Wednesday, Hope To Get Results Friday
A majority of the Lakers players were tested for COVID-19 at the teams' practice facility in El Segundo on Wednesday morning at 9 a.m., according to the Los Angeles Times.
The Lakers were swabbed with a Q-tip through their nose that had to touch their throat. Each test took about 10 seconds, according to the newspaper.
The Lakers moved forward with testing their players after four players on the Brooklyn Nets tested positive for COVID-19. The Lakers played the Nets on March 10 in their final game before the NBA season was suspended March 11.
The Lakers players will be under a 14-day self-quarantine as they await the test results, which they hope will arrive Friday, according to the newspaper.
The Nets said three of the four players who tested positive for COVID-19 were asymptomatic. So far, seven NBA players have tested positive for the virus.
When the Lakers hosted the Nets on March 10, the NBA had just enacted new social distancing guidelines, including only allowing essential team personnel into locker rooms and keeping a six-to-eight foot distance from reporters.
The following evening, Utah's Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19. NBA commissioner Adam Silver immediately suspended the season, which eventually led to sports on every level coming to a halt to try and slow the spread of the pandemic.
"Given the exposure risks from our game against the Nets on March 10th, we are following the next steps of our COVID-19 procedures and protocol that are established in consultation with various health officials, the NBA and our UCLA Health doctors," the Lakers said in a statement Tuesday.
