The Sacramento Kings, apparently bitten by a snake since the NBA restarted last month, saw the clouds begin to part a bit on Friday.
Forward Harrison Barnes cleared the league’s COVID-19 protocol and boarded a flight to Orlando on Friday morning, coach Luke Walton said. And young star De’Aaron Fox told reporters that he has recovered from a sprained left ankle.
“I was able to get on and off with the guys today, and it felt great,” said Fox, who suffered the injury on July 15 and could be available for the Kings’ scrimmage against the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday if he doesn’t experience any discomfort after Friday practice.
Barnes tested positive for the coronavirus in early July, shortly before the Kings flew to Orlando as a team. His recovery took almost three weeks before he could record two consecutive negative tests.
“We are happy to have him here, and then he will have to start his two-day quarantine once he arrives and go through that protocol before he can join us on the court,” Walton said in a video conference on Friday. . “But a big step for us in getting him out of here.”
Sacramento also had Buddy Hield, Jabari Parker and Alex Len join the team in Orlando after recovering from COVID-19.
Hield led the Kings with 19 points in his first scrimmage, against the Miami Heat on Wednesday. Parker had nine points and three rebounds. Len, who came to the bubble after Hield and Parker, did not play as the team is handling its workload while getting in shape.
Earlier in the week, the Kings ruled that Marvin Bagley III would miss the rest of the season due to a sprained right foot he suffered during practice in Orlando.
Starting center Richaun Holmes also completed a mandatory 10-day quarantine for inadvertently violating the NBA campus perimeter at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex last week.
The Kings (28-36) follow the Memphis Grizzlies 3 1/2 games to eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference with eight games remaining. If they are in ninth place when the qualifying games end, and within four games in the qualification of any team that is No. 8 at that point, they would force a game scenario where they would have to beat the eighth place team two games in a row to earn a postseason berth.
Barnes, who is growing a scruffy beard, has promised not to shave until one of these three things happens: Sacramento hits .500 or makes the playoffs, or the season ends.
Walton had slightly grown his beard to show solidarity with Barnes while recovering from COVID-19, but the coach was shaved after practice on Friday.
“I got word that Harrison was coming,” said Walton. “I told Harrison last night when we talked, that now that he’s on a flight, his beard is coming off. He tried to convince me that that means he’s a good luck beard. But, no, the beard is ready.”
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