The Raptors Are Fighting A COVID-19 Outbreak & They Aren't Even Hosting Team Practices RN

Just as the Toronto Raptors were about to face one of the biggest challenges of their season, figuring out how to win with a severely depleted roster and no team practices, an announcement from the NBA has let them off the hook.

The NBA, in a last-minute announcement today, stated that it had decided to postpone Wednesday's game due to the Raptors lacking the eight players required to play.

The league's previous hesitancy to postpone its 2020-2021 schedule due to the spread of COVID-19 had presented Canada's only team with a formidable challenge, trying to beat the Chicago Bulls with six regular roster players and five replacements.

"Frankly, we're having trouble coming up with what the logic would be behind pausing right now," Adam Silver, NBA commissioner, said about the league's decision in a statement on Tuesday.

According to TSN, if things had gone ahead as planned tonight, the Raptors would've had just nine players available for the face-off roster, including OG Anunoby, Yuta Wantabe, Isaac Bonga, Chris Boucher, Khem Birch, and Svi Mykhailiuk, alongside five G leaguers.

However, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski tweeted an update on Wednesday stating that OG Anunoby had entered the league's COVID-19 protocols, which would've shrunk the roster even further.

According to TSN, Pascal Siakam, Dalano Banton, Gary Trent Jr., Fred VanVleet, Malachi Flynn, Scottie Barnes and Precious Achiuwa have also been placed in the league’s COVID-19 protocols.

In light of the recent concerns, Toronto had decided not to host any team practices in the three days leading up to the game to reduce the risk of exposure.

Instead, all players went to the OVO Centre separately for individual workouts with assistant coaches.

The Raptors were initially scheduled to play the Chicago Bulls at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, December 22, 2021.

This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.