After the Brooklyn Nets revealed that four of their players, including Kevin Durant, tested positive for the virus, the Lakers quickly arranged for their players to be tested because their last game was against the Nets on March 10 at Staples Center.
The NBA suspended its season indefinitely the following day.
The Lakers had to wait two days for test results and then all of their players were placed in a 14-day home isolation prescribed by the team. Fourteen players out of the Lakers’ 17-man roster (including two-way contracts) were tested at the time, league sources told ESPN.
The Lakers never had to leave their vehicles once arriving at the test site for the procedure, which involved a cotton swab being placed up players’ nostrils to secure a culture.
“The thing I think people aren’t realizing is how serious of an ordeal this is and that it’s not to be taken lightly,” Lakers guard Alex Caruso told ESPN last week when asked about the team’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. “Everybody said the test is uncomfortable, and it pretty much was. They just stuck a Q-tip through your nose to the back of your mouth.”