Wizards G Bradley Beal enters health and safety protocols

Wizards guard Bradley Beal has entered the NBA’s health and safety protocols, the team announced today in a press release. He has been ruled out for Sunday’s game in Memphis and will have to receive clearance based on the league’s COVID-19 guidelines before returning to action.

Beal is the second star to enter the protocols this weekend, joining three-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert.

The league revised its COVID-related protocols over the summer and now requires testing for vaccinated players only when they show symptoms of the virus. Unvaccinated players still must be tested once per week, and players are subject to isolation measures after a positive test.

Beal is vaccinated, per Ava Wallace of The Washington Post (Twitter link). However, he has had some bad health luck so far this season, having also entered the protocols during the preseason due to what turned out to be a false positive test for a case of strep throat, tweets Josh Robbins of The Athletic.

After visiting the Grizzlies tonight, the Wizards head to Charlotte on Monday, then won’t play again until they host Dallas on Thursday.