PORTLAND, OREGON – MARCH 07: Alex Len #25 of the Sacramento Kings looks on before the game against the Portland Trail Blazers at the Moda Center on March 07, 2020 in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images)
Alex Len is an extreme example of the severity of COVID-19.
Last week, Alex Len made his way to Orlando to join a Sacramento Kings side struggling to get healthy in the weeks preceding the NBA’s resumption.
Len was unable to join the team on its initial trip down South due to a positive coronavirus test. While he has been feeling well since, it took 24 days for Len to eventually become clear of the virus, a scary sign of its severity and differing reality for its victims.
Speaking about his recovery, Len had the following to say,
[I’m] doing pretty good I mean just gotta get my body back in shape … my lungs is fine, my heart is fine, so we did some tests with that, and everything is good …
Len reportedly felt chest tightness and experienced a loss of taste in symptoms shared by some infected individuals, two of which include Kings teammates Buddy Hield and Jabari Parker, both of whom had much quicker recoveries. Harris Barnes is the latest King to join the list.
Yet to practice after arriving in Orlando, Len, along with Sacramento teammates De’Aaron fox and Richaun Holmes, the latter of whom violated the bubble boundaries and the former an ankle sprain, will miss the team’s first scrimmage Wednesday.
Len’s COVID-19 experience is an unfortunate example of why the NBA implemented a bubble.
Because the NBA tested its players prior to coming to Orlando, the league identified, isolated and overcome its initial positive cases. Without the bubble, had players begun testing positive in the midst of a season, a 24-day delay like Len’s would be detrimental to the season’s completion.
While a harrowing situation, Len’s represents exactly why the NBA utilized the system it did and a reminder of the consequences if it did not.