Multiple FC Dallas Players Test Positive For Coronavirus In Orlando MLS Bubble, Raising Concerns For NBA’s Resumption

Transcript

00:00 I'm Melissa Roland with Sports Illustrated and we're here with Jill Painter-Lopez.

00:06 Now Jill, there was some concerning news around COVID-19 that came out of MLS today.

00:11 Can you tell us what happened and how that could potentially affect the NBA?

00:16 Well Melissa, the MLS is having their bubble in Orlando as well.

00:21 So six players have tested positive for the coronavirus from the Dallas FC team and that

00:26 came out today.

00:27 So that's a good portion of the team.

00:30 They haven't even gotten underway in their tournament yet.

00:32 That's expected to start next week.

00:34 But having six players from one team, I mean you can just see the potential problems and

00:38 the NBA will also have their bubble in Orlando as we know and teams are scheduled to fly

00:44 out on July 9th.

00:46 But this COVID-19 pandemic, cases are rising all across the country.

00:51 And one of the concerning things that we're seeing with the MLS team is of course everybody

00:54 is getting tested before they leave.

00:56 So all these players were negative.

00:58 Once they got inside the bubble where you have all the safety and security measures

01:02 that are being taken, that's where the testing showed up after that.

01:07 So again, just very concerning.

01:08 The MLS tournament is supposed to start next week.

01:11 They haven't been there very long and already six players from one team.

01:14 So you can be sure that NBA players and also Major League Baseball players as well are

01:20 certainly concerned with this news as MLS is about to try to restart their season.

01:25 That is definitely concerning, especially because Rob Polinka on a conference call Tuesday

01:29 talked about how the whole point of the bubble is to make it safer than it would be in the

01:34 real world.

01:35 So if they're already having these problems in the bubble, that's definitely going to

01:39 raise some concerns for the NBA.

01:41 Absolutely, Melissa.