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Eric WoodyardESPN
Ahead of his first NBA playoff experience with the Utah Jazz, veteran point guard Mike Conley left the Orlando bubble Sunday morning to return to Columbus, Ohio, for the birth of his son, the team announced.
A source told ESPN that Conley plans to rejoin the playoffs with the Jazz.
For approved departure from the NBA bubble, if a player leaves less than seven days and negatively tests each day that he is not in the bubble, he would have to quarantine four days after returning.
The Jazz faced the Denver Nuggets in the first round, with Game 1 set for 1:30 pm ET Monday (ESPN).
“My first reaction is my best wishes to Mike Conley and his family. I hope everything goes well,” said Nuggets coach Michael Malone. “… If Mike Conley is not available for Game 1, whatever it is, then I’m sure other guys will step up. We could go to Utah this year and win with seven guys. I’m not buying that in much either. “If Mike Conley is not available, that means more Donovan Mitchell, who is a caliber player.”
Since the restart, Conley has averaged 18 points and 5 assists per game after struggling with his shooting earlier in the season.
Utah also plays without second-leading scorer Bojan Bogdanovic, who underwent surgery on his right wrist.
Jazz coach Quin Snyder said Conley, who spent his first 12 seasons with the Memphis Grizzlies, was just starting to feel comfortable in his new situation after being suspended from the league due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“Every time you go through change on what capacity in life, there are challenges,” Snyder said after Saturday’s practice. “And Mike has probably undergone so much change over the course of this offseason than probably anyone I have ever coached.
“Playing with new staff, playing in a new city, having been in Memphis all his career, that was a long, great career there,” Snyder added, “and not about to start, but trying to process all the things that were new. “
ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk contributed to this report.
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