Rockets NBA Season Opener Cancelled Due To COVID

CNN/Stylemagazine.com Newswire | 12/23/2020, 4:51 p.m.
On Wednesday the National Basketball Association postponed the game scheduled between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Houston Rockets at …
Photo Credit/Houston Rockets

On Wednesday the National Basketball Association postponed the game scheduled between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center in accordance with the league’s Health and Safety Protocols. It would have been the season opener for both teams.

Three Houston Rockets players have returned tests that were either positive or inconclusive for coronavirus under the NBA’s testing program. Following the contact tracing protocol, four other players are quarantined at this time.

Additionally, James Harden is unavailable due to a violation of the Health and Safety Protocols. All other Rockets players were tested again today, and all returned negative results. Harden came under scrutiny earlier in the week when a video surfaced of him breaking NBA COVID protocol by not having on a mask in a large gathering. On Wednesday, Harden took to his personal social media page to address the issue.

“One thing after another,” Harden wrote. “I went to show love to my homegirl at her event (not a strip club) because she is becoming a boss and putting her people in position of success and now it’s a problem. Everyday it’s something different. No matter how many times people try to drag my name under, you can’t. The real always end on top.”

Houston has one additional player who is unavailable due to injury. As such, the Rockets do not have the league-required eight available players to proceed with the game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The league has not released a date in which the game between the two teams will be played.