ADDS MORE CASES, HEADLINE, DECK, LEDE CHANGE; EDITS THROUGHOUT
By Can Erozden
ANKARA (AA) – News of multiple COVID-19 cases in the Sacramento Kings are jolting the NBA, but the US basketball league is still set to return next month.
The Kings’ Buddy Hield, Alex Len and Jabari Parker have all tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by coronavirus, according to insiders and the league itself.
"Kings guard Buddy Hield has tested positive for coronavirus, sources tell me and Sam Amick," sports reporter Shams Charania wrote Thursday on Twitter.
"Sacramento Kings players Alex Len and Jabari Parker confirmed Wednesday that each had tested positive for the novel coronavirus," the NBA said on its website.
Hield, 27, averaged 19.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 3.1 assists this season.
The Kings' 25-year-old power forward Parker clocked up 14.7 points and 5.9 rebounds per match.
Len is a center for the California team, averaging 8.3 points and 6 rebounds in the 2019-20 season.
The NBA is set to return with a 22-team format at Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Florida, with a tentative start date of July 31.
But the league is still wrestling with the virus, which has killed more people in the United States than any other country, and a surge in case numbers not seen since April, including in Florida.
Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets also tested positive for the virus in his home country Serbia on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, Malcolm Brogdon, who plays guard for the Indiana Pacers, confirmed he had also contracted the virus.