Zero NBA players positive for COVID-19 in latest testing

For a piece published earlier this week, NBA insider Marc Stein of the New York Times wrote about how COVID-19 could be the league's "toughest playoff matchup" this spring. 

So far, so good. 

On Wednesday, the NBA and National Basketball Players Association announced via a joint statement that zero new players tested positive for COVID-19 over the past week. The league wasn't without coronavirus-related drama, though, as Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James and Dallas Mavericks big man Kristaps Porzingis recently violated NBA health and safety protocols.

Porzingis was fined $50,000, while James was not punished. 

Last Friday, MLB said 84.4% of all Tier 1 members of traveling parties — including players, managers, coaches, trainers and other essential employees — were partially or fully vaccinated as of that time; 78.8% of Tier 1 individuals were considered fully vaccinated. 

Like MLB, the NFL is considering relaxing certain COVID-19 health and safety protocols for teams with at least 85% of players fully vaccinated against the coronavirus. It's unknown how many, if any, clubs have reached that threshold ahead of Memorial Day.