The NBA bubble is in full swing in Orlando as the league prepares to restart the season at the end of the month, and so far, adjusting to this new reality has been something of a mixed bag. There’s been players fishing and golfing and seemingly trying to enjoy themselves at Disney, but we’ve also already had a couple of players breaking quarantine accidentally, complaints about the quality of food, and some untimely injuries.
Rajon Rondo has been the biggest name to suffer an injury thus far, as the Lakers guard fractured his hand at practice and will miss 6-8 weeks. It’s a tough blow to a team that has its sights set on a championship this season and is already partially depleted in the backcourt after Avery Bradley opted out of the restart to protect his son’s health.
On Wednesday, Kings guard De’Aaron Fox was added to the injury list after spraining his ankle during a Kings practice this week. Fox will be re-evaluated in 7-10 days, according to the team release. It is the same ankle Fox sprained last fall, although it’s unclear how severe the sprain is.
De’Aaron Fox has a left ankle sprain. Will be evaluated in 7-10 days. pic.twitter.com/X3Hzadmvzi
— Blake Ellington (@BlakeEllington) July 15, 2020
It was teammate Richaun Holmes who violated quarantine in recent days for food delivery and has been forced into isolation. Prior to the bubble, COVID-19 hit the Kings particularly hard, as Buddy Hield, Jabari Parker, and Alex Len all tested positive earlier this month. Harrison Barnes then became the fourth Sacramento player to test positive this week, although they all plan on joining their team once they have been cleared.
For a team that hopes to fight its way into playoff contention, it’s an inauspicious beginning to the restart and they will have a limited window to get their full squad on the floor before games that count begin.