New York Sports Teams are Caught Up in Major COVID-19 Outbreaks

Across the NFL, NBA and NHL, teams in the state of New York are fighting separate battles against outbreaks of COVID-19. Each situation is unique in its own way, but all of them are worrying, to say the least.

Get our free mobile app

The New York Islanders Have Dealt With Consistent Cases

The Islanders were one of the first teams in the state of New York to suffer from an outbreak within their ranks. At the peak of the situation, the Islanders would have been short up to eight skaters at the end of November. The situation became so dire, that the NHL postponed two of the team's games.

Though a large portion of players have returned, star center Mat Barzal is currently in protocol, and did not play against the Boston Bruins on Thursday evening.

The Brooklyn Nets Have Been Playing Shorthanded

The Nets are probably in the worst shape of any team in New York right now. The Nets had seven players enter protocol between Monday and Tuesday, and played their game against the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday with the league minimum amount of players available.

In total, the team lost Paul Millsap, LaMarcus Aldridge, DeAndre’ Bembry, Jevon Carter, James Johnson, James Harden and Bruce Brown to positive COVID-19 tests.

Thursday evening, the roster expanded to a whopping nine players, with Brown and Bembry listed as having "not yet entered the game" for the team.

The New York Giants Have Had Players Enter Protocol

Of course, we must head over to the gridiron, for our daily clown-show update about the New York Giants.

While not quite at the scale of the Nets' outbreak, the Giants' protocol list current sits at six players, all in various situations. Rookie wide receiver Kadarius Toney was the first, followed by John Ross, Oshane Ximines, Cam Brown and Aaron Robinson. Xavier McKinney was also listed as a "close contact", but may be available to play on Sunday following multiple negative tests.

Needless to say, it's a frightening time in New York sports right now, as well as most sports markets around the country.