Orlando Magic head coach Steve Clifford won’t be available against the Indiana Pacers on Sunday night and could miss multiple games after recently testing positive for COVID-19, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Clifford originally tested positive for the virus on Thursday night, and that was followed by another positive test on Saturday. He’ll reportedly be out until he passes the NBA’s health and safety protocols. Magic assistant Tyrone Corbin will fill in for Clifford during his absence.
Despite receiving both doses of the Moderna vaccine, Clifford still tested positive yet has been asymptomatic and feeling well.
“I feel fine,” Clifford said on Saturday. “I have no temperature. I feel 100 percent … I feel comfortable that I’m not really in danger. That with the fact that my temperature, my oxidation numbers, how I feel, I have no side effects right now, I’m very comfortable with that.”
After a brutal winter in which nearly every team in the league dealt with positive COVID-19 cases, leading to 31 games to be postponed and rescheduled, things are much more under control at this point in the season. There hasn’t been a single postponement due to COVID-19 since March 2, and in the latest round of testing, just three of 488 players tested positive.
Much of that is due to the widespread availability of the COVID-19 vaccine, which every adult in the United States is now eligible to receive. Legends such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Russell have filmed PSAs urging people to get the vaccine, and a number of teams and players have posted pictures and videos to social media showing them receiving the shot.
Courtesy: CBS Sports
