Nuggets coach Michael Malone says he had coronavirus shortly after suspension of NBA season
Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone revealed Monday that an illness he experienced the week after the suspension of the NBA season turned out to be pretty significant.
A recent antibody test revealed that Malone had COVID-19, the coach told CBS4 in Denver. He reportedly started experiencing symptoms around March 20, nine days after Rudy Gobert’s positive test shut down the league.
#Nuggets head coach Michael Malone told me tonight on @CBSDenver that he had coronavirus shortly after the season was suspended and found out after taking an antibody test.
He joked: "I like to say that I got coronavirus and I kicked its butt." #MileHighBasketball pic.twitter.com/XFpG5Sz4uu— Michael Spencer (@MichaelCBS4) June 16, 2020
“I only found out after the fact,” Malone said, per The Denver Post. “I was able to get an antibody test, probably right around Memorial Day weekend. Not surprisingly, our team doctor called up and said, ‘Listen, you’ve tested positive.’”
Malone’s wife and daughters were also tested after the news.
Malone said he wasn’t able to get a test when he started experiencing symptoms, which isn’t too surprising given the outcry that came when it emerged how many coronavirus tests the NBA was using following Gobert’s diagnosis.
Two other people in the Nuggets organization have also reportedly tested positive during the hiatus. That number could rise with the NBA’s plan to return to Disney World, though it remains unclear just how isolated the league will be.
“I hope that going down to Orlando [Florida] we’ll be in a safe environment and we can limit the amount of people that actually get it, because I do know that there’s a lot of states, we’re seeing a lot of spikes in the number of cases,” Malone said.
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