All Hawks

Trae Young Enters Health & Safety Protocols

COVID-19 strikes the Atlanta Hawks.

Pat Benson

© Scott Wachter-USA TODAY Sports
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There it goes. Precisely what we have all been fearing. Today we learned that Trae Young has entered the NBA Health & Safety Protocols. As a result, Young will miss Sunday’s game against the Cleveland Cavaliers and will have to return two negative COVID-19 tests, 24 hours apart, before he can rejoin the team.

It's no surprise that ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski broke the news. Over the past week, it's been a parade of players entering the league's protocols. Woj and Shams have been breaking news on positive test cases like it's draft night or free agency.

After Friday night's loss to the Denver Nuggets, I asked both Nate McMillan and Trae Young about the mentality of the locker room when it came to COVID. Not because I'm a health expert or can read the future. Rather, they kept playing teams that would later turn up positive test results. Check out my tweet thread below to see what the two said about COVID on Friday night.

Honestly, this sucks. This is the third NBA season disrupted by the pandemic. I hate to see it happen to any team, but especially the Hawks. Trae Young has been a leader on and off the court. He's a champion of mental and physical health. I'm sure he will be fine, but he doesn't deserve this. The scary part is that it's unlikely he will be on the person in his orbit to test positive for COVID due to easy transmission of the virus.

Stay locked into Sports Illustrated's AllHawks.com for breaking news, highlights, and analysis. But, more importantly, please keep you and your loved ones safe and healthy during these difficult times. Thanks for reading.

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Pat Benson
PAT BENSON

Pat Benson covers the Atlanta Hawks for Sports Illustrated's All Hawks. He has covered the NBA for several years and is the author of "Kobe Bryant's Sneaker History (1996-2020)".

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