The Los Angeles Lakers canceled Tuesday’s practice after Talen Horton-Tucker tested positive for COVID-19, the team announced. Later in the day, Dwight Howard and Malik Monk also tested positive for the virus and will miss Wednesday night’s game against the Dallas Mavericks. The Lakers were originally scheduled to fly to Dallas on Tuesday afternoon to face the Mavericks, but the flight was delayed after Horton-Tucker’s positive COVID test. Additional testing was done, revealing the positive tests of Howard and Monk.
The Lakers already lost LeBron James to the COVID protocols earlier in the season, but he missed only a single game before returning to the floor. Teams around the league are dealing with far more substantial absences, though. The Chicago Bulls have had two games postponed, and coincidentally, their first game back is scheduled for Sunday against these very Lakers. The Brooklyn Nets currently have five players in the health and safety protocols.
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Still, losing Horton-Tucker, Howard and Monk is just the latest absence for a Lakers team that has still not played a single game with its full roster available. Trevor Ariza and Kendrick Nunn have not yet played this season, and Anthony Davis is currently dealing with knee soreness.
Anyone who tests positive can return either 10 days after their first positive test or when they’ve registered two negative tests 24 hours apart. James was cleared after his positive test was found to be a false positive. As positive tests continue to pop up around the league, it appears as though more and more players are going to be forced to miss time.
