Nine per cent of NBA players test positive for Covid-19 as pre-season fast approaches

The NBA announced on December 2 that 48 players have tested positive for the coronavirus. AFP

The NBA announced in Wednesday that around nine per cent of players so far tested for Covid-19 have returned positive tests just nine days before pre-season games are scheduled to begin.

The league said the positive tests are the result of 546 tests carried out between November 24-30.

One team, the Golden State Warriors, have already delayed the beginning of their individual workouts by a day this week because of players testing positive.

This was the initial round of tests for players as they returned to their teams ahead of the start of individual workouts on Tuesday. The NBA says it will be testing all of its players daily throughout the season.

The infection rate number is also higher than the 46 players that tested positive for Covid-19 in the weeks ahead of the start of the pandemic-disrupted season. The new results show the league has a positivity rate of 8.8 per cent, which is high.

Under the league's tough new Covid-19 protocols, a players who tests positive has to refrain from workouts for at least 10 days and more if he is showing symptoms.

The NBA's first preseason games are December 11 with the regular season scheduled to begin less than two weeks later.

Westbrook traded to Wizards

On the same day of the Covid test findings, the Houston Rockets agreed to trade 2017 MVP Russell Westbrook to the Washington Wizards for five-time All Star point guard John Wall and a future first-round draft pick.

Russell Westbrook has been traded to the Washington Wizards for John Wall and a future lottery-protected first-round pick. AP

The 32-year-old Westbrook, a nine-time All Star point guard who spent the bulk of his career with the Oklahoma City Thunder before being traded to Houston in 2019, averaged 27.2 points and 7.9 rebounds in the most recent season.

The Rockets had hoped Westbrook would help them to a first NBA title since winning back-to-back championships in 1994-95, but they were eliminated from the playoffs by the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference semi-finals.

Westbrook will be reunited with Wizards coach Scott Brooks, who was his coach for seven years in Oklahoma City.

"Russell's accomplishments and honours on the court speak for themselves, but his drive and will to win are what separate him as a truly unique player," said Brooks.

"As much as I'm looking forward to reuniting with him, I'm equally sad to say goodbye to John. He is one of the toughest and most gifted players I've ever been around and we all wish him nothing but the best moving forward."

Wall, 30, has spent his entire nine-year career with the Wizards. He missed the 2019-20 campaign through injury and played only 32 games the season prior.

The move comes amid widespread reports that 2018 MVP James Harden, the league's leading scorer, was seeking a trade from the Rockets after the departure of the team's head coach and general manager.