Bradley Beal Out of Olympics; U.S. vs. Australia Game Postponed
Posted On: July 15, 2021 By :USA Basketball will have to replace one person on its men’s basketball team after announcing that guard Bradley Beal of the Washington Wizards will not play in the Olympic Summer Games, one day after entering health and safety protocols.
Beal scored 17 points in the U.S. team’s 108-80 win over Argentina in an exhibition game on Tuesday in Las Vegas.
Bradley Beal, who was placed under USA Basketball's health & safety protocols on Wednesday, will remain in protocol & will be unable to participate in the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Out of an abundance of caution, Jerami Grant has been placed under health & safety protocols.— USA Basketball (@usabasketball) July 15, 2021
“Since he was a little kid, this has been a dream of his,” Team USA Coach Gregg Popovich said. “He was playing great, he was having fun, being a big part of us coming together chemistry-wise. … It’s devastating.”
USA Basketball also announced that forward Jerami Grant is in health and safety protocols “out of an abundance of caution.”
The team’s game against Australia on Friday has been canceled, USA Basketball later announced,”out of an abundance of caution” due to health and safety protocols. The U.S. will conclude its exhibition schedule against Spain on Sunday.
Beal started in the backcourt alongside Damian Lillard in all three Team USA exhibition games; the U.S. is 1-2 going into Friday’s game against Australia before a final exhibition against Spain on Sunday. The U.S. opens the Olympic tournament on July 25 against France.
The news about Beal comes after the Tokyo organizing committee announced that one athlete and one staff member are among six new positives during arrival testing. The announcement comes one day after the IOC revealed an official on the refugee team tested positive. Two members of the Ugandan delegation as well as one from the Serbia delegation also tested positive upon arrival.
The IOC said that athletes would have vaccines available to them before they traveled to Japan. Before entering Japan, athletes must be tested twice on different days within 96 hours before arrival, then tested again when they land in Japan.
Athletes are then required to quarantine for three days after they arrive and do daily reporting of their temperature and any symptoms via a smartphone app. They also may have their temperatures checked every time they enter an Olympics venue, and may be barred from entry if the temperature is high. They will also be tested daily and if an athlete tests positive, they will go into isolation and contact tracing will be done.
Social distancing must be adhered to between athletes and things such as hugs, handshakes and high-fives are discouraged. Athletes must either eat in the Village or at specially-permitted locations and they are expected to be masked.
Posted in: Basketball, Olympic Sports, Paralympic Sports