All 76ers

Hawks' Trae Young Enters Protocol Days Before Sixers Matchup

The NBA has a COVID-19 problem on its hands. Every day, several players have been entering the NBA's health and safety protocol as a league-wide outbreak

Justin Grasso

Hawks' Trae Young Enters Protocol Days Before Sixers Matchup
Hawks' Trae Young Enters Protocol Days Before Sixers Matchup /

The NBA has a COVID-19 problem on its hands. Every day, several players have been entering the NBA's health and safety protocol as a league-wide outbreak ensues. The Philadelphia 76ers currently have just one player in the protocol as Georges Niang was entered on Wednesday.

However, Philly's recent opponents have had several players absent due to the virus. Their last opponent, the Brooklyn Nets, had seven players in the protocol on Thursday night when the Sixers and the Nets went to battle. 

On Saturday, Brooklyn's added its eighth and ninth additions as Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving were placed in the protocol.

While the Sixers' Sunday night opponent, the New Orleans Pelicans, isn't dealing with any COVID outbreaks currently, one of their upcoming opponents might not have their top star available as COVID continues to spread.

Trae Young in Question

On Sunday afternoon, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported that Atlanta Hawks star guard Trae Young has entered the NBA's health and safety protocol. Like every other NBA player that tests positive initially, Young will have an opportunity to take a series of additional COVID tests over the next 24 hours to see if he is able to register several negative tests to be cleared from the protocol.

However, if his tests continue to come back as positive, Young will be forced to miss at least ten days worth of action. If that's indeed the case, the Sixers will face the Hawks without Young when the two teams meet for a third time this season on Thursday night at the Wells Fargo Center in South Philly.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_. 

Published
Justin Grasso
JUSTIN GRASSO

Title: Credentialed writer/reporter covering the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated’s FanNation Email: JustinGrasso32@Gmail.com Location: Philadelphia, PA Expertise: Reporting, insight, and analysis on the Sixers and the NBA  Justin Grasso is a credentialed writer and publisher covering the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated’s FanNation.  Grasso got his start in sports media in 2016 with FantasyPros, working the news desk, providing game-by-game player analysis and updates on the Portland Trail Blazers and the Golden State Warriors. By 2017, he joined FanSided’s Philadelphia Eagles site as a staff writer. After spending one season covering the Eagles as a staff writer, Grasso was promoted to become the site’s Co-Editor. For the next two NFL seasons, he covered the Eagles closely before broadening his NFL coverage. For a brief stint, Grasso covered the NFL on a national basis after joining Heavy.com as an NFL news desk writer. In 2019, Grasso joined the 76ers' beat on a part-time basis, stepping into a role with South Jersey’s 97.3 ESPN. Ahead of the 2019-2020 NBA season, he concluded a three-year stint covering the Eagles and joined the Sixers beat full-time. Grasso has covered the 76ers exclusively since then for Sports Illustrated. He is a member of the Pro Basketball Writer’s Association.  Twitter: @JGrasso_ Instagram: @JGrassoNBA

Home/News