LaVine, Brown Jr. make 9 Bulls in health protocols originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
The Chicago Bulls' COVID-19 outbreak continues to worsen by the day.
Sunday morning, Zach LaVine and Troy Brown Jr. became the eighth and ninth players on the team to enter the NBA's health and safety protocols, NBC Sports Chicago confirmed.
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LaVine and Brown Jr. join Coby White, Javonte Green, DeMar DeRozan, Matt Thomas, Derrick Jones Jr., Ayo Dosunmu and Stanley Johnson in protocols. Each must stay in protocols for 10 days or until they return two negative PCR tests within a 24-hour span, then pass cardiac screening sanctioned by the NBA.
With Patrick Williams sidelined rehabbing his long-term wrist injury, the Bulls are down to nine available players, with their next game scheduled for Tuesday at home against the Detroit Pistons. White and Green will have passed 10 days in protocols by that time, but their status is yet unclear. The NBA mandates teams have a minimum of eight active players available to hold a game.
The Bulls have already signed two players to 10-day contracts via hardship exceptions granted by the league — and now have the option to add more unless White and Green return. One of them, Stanley Johnson, entered protocols two days after his signing was announced. The other, Alfonzo McKinnie, played 29 minutes and scored six points in Saturday's 118-92 loss to the Miami Heat.
"We need a hardship for a hardship," head coach Billy Donovan said before the game.
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The Bulls are a fully vaccinated team, and Nikola Vučević said after the Miami contest that "most" of the team has received booster shots. They have been undergoing daily testing in light of the outbreak.
But clearly, that outbreak has passed the point of being out of hand. Donovan reiterated Saturday, before LaVine and Brown Jr. entered protocols, he hadn't yet heard talk of the league postponing any of the Bulls' games. The NBA postponed 31 games due to COVID-19 last season, but hasn't done so in 2021-22.
All told, 22 NBA players are currently in protocols, per StatMuse. Nine are on the Bulls.
