The Milwaukee Bucks are on quite the roll at the moment, but they will be without one of the cornerstone pieces moving forward.
Before the Bucks tipped off what was eventually their 125-112 win over the Denver Nuggets Monday night, it was announced by the team that Jrue Holiday was inactive as a result of being placed in the NBA’s health and safety protocols.
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Holiday serves as the Bucks’ first instance of dealing with these sort of protocols the NBA has put in place this season in the face of the coronavirus pandemic raging on and playing the season in home markets.
Being placed in such protocols either mean that Holiday returned back an inconclusive test, is being held for contact tracing or has tested positive for COVID-19.
At this point, there is no clarity on what triggered Holiday going into the health and safety protocols, but Bucks All-Star forward Khris Middleton may have let it slip after the game that Holiday tested positive for COVID-19.
Bucks declined to comment on Jrue Holiday's absence other than to confirm he missed tonight's game due to the league's health and safety protocols.
— Eric Nehm (@eric_nehm) February 9, 2021
However, teammate Khris Middleton indicated Holiday may have "tested positive" for COVID-19.
Middleton's post-game comments: pic.twitter.com/KzmHfxC9Co
The Milwaukee Bucks will be without Jrue Holiday as their road trip continues.
While we continue to wait on further official updates as to Holiday’s status, his absence came as a shock to the team as well, at least according to Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer.
Meeting with the media Monday night after the win, Budenholzer clarified that the Bucks had already cancelled their shootaround for the morning based on playing three games in four nights and that he wouldn’t be traveling with the team to Phoenix.
Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer told reporters
— Eric Nehm (@eric_nehm) February 9, 2021
- Bucks found out Jrue Holiday would be unable to play this evening.
- Team cancelled their shootaround this morning because they were playing 3 games in 4 nights and playing in altitude.
- Holiday will not travel with team to Phoenix.
For Holiday to return back to action and be reintegrated within the Bucks again, the NBA states that players must got 10 days or more after the first positive test or onset of symptoms or test negative twice within a span of 24 hours via PCR testing.
In these instances, the health of Holiday certainly comes first as well as his family. For those that might not remember, Holiday’s wife, Lauren, recently gave birth to their second child and is more than four years removed from having a brain tumor removed. Whether she’s at high-risk for COVID-19 is not yet known.
Of course, Holiday’s absence and the events that led to him entering health protocols certainly raises questions in regards to how the Bucks could be further affected as they continue their road trip. Without veering into reckless speculation, we’ve seen the NBA take more action into putting teams on the shelf when positive tests surface for a player.
While all of these questions remain, best wishes go out to Jrue Holiday in light of this development. It’s in times like these where basketball and sports in general is the last thing that comes to mind and hopefully the 30-year-old will make a speedy recovery.