Reggie Jackson and Chauncey Billups have no return date for 'excused absence'

Should fans be alarmed?

Reggie Jackson and Chauncey Billups were listed as having "excused absences" from Sunday's game against the Los Angeles Lakers, but they have no timetable for return.

Both Jackson and Billups were available on Friday but quietly disappeared on Sunday. When Ty Lue was asked if he knew how long the two would be gone, he immediately said "no." Is this something that should alarm fans?

In all likelihood, this is something fans of every team will have to deal with. It's the shadow of uncertainty that COVID-19 brings to the 2020-21 NBA Season. Your favorite players and coaches have a high chance of suddenly missing games due to "excused absences." What does the NBA consider an excused absence though?

A league source told Andrew Greif of the LA Times that an excused absence can be applied to, "scenarios that include either a positive or inconclusive result or because of reasons related to contact tracing.” 

Ty Lue doesn't know when Reggie Jackson or Chauncey Billups is going to return, because he's most likely waiting on the result of a test. People tend to forget that COVID-19 runs on its own timetable. As much as we'd all like to control it and expect deadlines, that's just hard to do without the vaccine. 

If this was the end of the season or the playoffs, then Clipper fans should definitely be concerned. However, they're fortunate enough to only be in the preseason. In a worst-case scenario where both Lue and Billups miss multiple weeks, they'll still rejoin the team early in the season.

As uncertain as it sounds, this is 2020-21 sports. The best way to embrace it is by being smart, and safe.