The list of players and coaches in the league’s health and safety protocols has become never-ending, and according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, that doesn’t exclude NBA referees, either.
NBA COVID-19 tracker: Team-by-team list of players in protocols | Which games have been postponed due to COVID?
As of Dec. 30, Wojnarowski reported that over one-third of the NBA’s officials are in the league’s health and safety protocols – a season-high 36 percent.
“With 25 of the league’s 70 active referees currently in quarantine, the league has been promoting G League referees to fill out the nightly roster of games, sources said,” Wojnarowski stated in his report.
“There have been rare instances lately when only two referees – instead of the standard three – were available for games, but the NBA has continued to work to limit those occasions, sources said,” Wojnarowski also wrote.
He added that NBA referees are 100% vaccinated and are required to be fully boosted. Only a percentage of refs currently on road trips haven’t been boosted, but must do by Wednesday, Jan. 5.
He also cited that officials don’t have the protections – like charter flights and five-star hotels – that teams and players do, but the NBA has been working with the National Basketball Referees Association on improvements related to travel that may lessen the exposure to the virus.
