Chicago Bulls In 'High-Risk Environment' After 10th COVID-19 Case

CHICAGO — A team doctor with the Chicago Bulls said the team is now in a “high-risk environment” after a 10th player was added to the COVID-19 protocol list on Monday — which forced the NBA to postpone Tuesday's scheduled game against the Detroit Pistons as well as Thursday's game against the Toronto Raptors, the league announced Monday.

The NBA on Monday that the league had called off Tuesday's game at the United Center due to the continued outbreak of Bulls players joining the league's health and safety protocol list. The league also said that the Bulls will not play in Toronto as they were scheduled to because of the current health situation involving the Bulls.

ESPN reported that the Chicago Health Department expressed concern about the situation and that those concerns factored into the league's decision to postpone the game at the United Center.

The Bulls added Alize Johnson to the NBA’s health and safety protocols on Monday, NBC Sports Chicago reported. Johnson was added to the list a day after starting guard Zach LaVine and Troy Brown, Jr. entered protocols on Sunday. Although Coby White and Javonte Green may soon come out of protocols with a pair of negative tests in a 48-hour period, the Bulls had just eight healthy players on Monday, putting them at the league-mandated limit to play games.

Dr. Brian Cole, a sports medicine surgeon at Midwest Orthopedics at Rush University Medical Center, told the Chicago Tribune that with the outbreak of COVID-19 cases and the fact players and coaches are in constant contact in close quarters with one another, the environment around the team is far from ideal.

Cole also said that while many believed that vaccinations would prevent new cases of COVID-19 from being reported, outbreaks in groups of vaccinated people like the Bulls isn’t backing that theory up, he told the Tribune.

The Bulls have reported that their entire roster is vaccinated. To be taken out of protocols, players must test negative twice within a 48-hour period. All the Bulls 10 cases have occurred since Dec. 1.

“That’s the scary part — we’re around these guys all the time,” coach Billy Donovan told reporters over the weekend. “I mean, hopefully this will slow down at some point, right?”

The Bulls have lost back-to-back games to the Cleveland Cavaliers and Miami Heat, with both setbacks coming by at least 23 points.