Brooklyn Nets forward Taurean Prince has tested positive for the coronavirus and has been ruled out of the NBA’s restart in Orlando, Florida, sources told ESPN.
Prince is the fourth Nets player — including DeAndre Jordan, Spencer Dinwiddie and Wilson Chandler — who won’t participate in the league’s restart because of the coronavirus.
Jordan and Dinwiddie tested positive for the coronavirus, and Chandler’s decision was based on family considerations. Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving are sitting out the restart as they rehabilitate injuries.
The late timing of Prince’s positive test for the coronavirus caused him to be declared out of the restart, with the necessary protocols placing in jeopardy his body’s build up back to basketball.
Prince’s ability to recover and reach optimum playing shape became a more doubtful proposition, given the time he would lose with the protocols needed to return to the floor in Orlando. The necessary ramp-up in practice time once he satisfied testing protocols on negative tests, traveled to Florida, quarantined for several days and then resumed workouts made his participation prohibitive, even for a July 30 tipoff on a roster already decimated by injuries.
The Nets have three roster spots available to sign substitute players for the restart.
Prince, 26, started 61 of 64 games with the Nets after arriving in a trade from Atlanta last summer. He averaged 12 points and six rebounds. Prince signed a two-year, $29 million extension in October.
Courtesy: ESPN.com
