The Sixers put out a statement last night revealing that three “individuals” within the organization tested positive for COVID-19. They didn’t specify who those folks were, but explained that they’re now in self-isolation and will be monitored.

This afternoon, Sean Brace of The Daily Ticket on FOX Sports the Gambler reported that two of those three people are Sixers players, which you can hear in audio clipped from the broadcast:


Sean, in part:

I am here to tell you that I heard it was two players. Two players tested positive, which should not come as a surprise to anyone. After days go by here, Sean Payton, Kevin Durant, it doesn’t matter who you are, you can be the biggest superstar or you could be the 12th man off the bench. You could be the towel boy or assistant coach, it doesn’t matter. This virus is out there and will continue to be infecting people.

…

I did not learn any of the players’ names, nor would I put that out there. But it brings up an interesting conversation – we as the public, don’t we have a right to know who these players are? I know the Sixers as an organization are not the only one to not put this out there. But there are other players that will remain nameless across the league. The most important thing we can do is to just stay away from anybody who has a possibility of being infected at this point in time. and if you did come across player A or player X, shouldn’t you go get tested?

Sean makes a reasonable point about our right to know.

I can only speak for my experience, but media was kept six feet away from players after practice last Tuesday and separated by 10-12 feet before and after Wednesday’s game. Players did not come out to the press conference room after the Detroit win and only Brett Brown and Elton Brand were there.

The non-Sixers personnel who would have come closest to the players would probably have been security guards and/or stadium workers in and around the locker room area. We we barred from that area as a precautionary measure, as were other personnel deemed non-essential.

Update:

Source tells me that after the Pistons game, the team called workers and arena personnel who may have come in contact with players and staff. After the three tests came back positive this week, they again reached out to those people to inform them of the results, then did a follow-up check to see if they were showing any symptoms. So even though the identities and roles of the positive cases were not revealed, they’ve been contacting people they think might have been in the vicinity of players/coaches/doctors/etc.