The Utah Jazz and Detroit Pistons have had a total of three players test positive for the coronavirus, and now it seems that another person has tested for COVID-19 as well.
A camera operator that worked the March 7th game between the two teams at Little Caesars Arena is in a medically induced coma after testing positive for the coronavirus, according to Yahoo Sports’ Dan Wetzel and Vincent Goodwill.
The man, who has not been identified, is said to be 50-years-old and has served as part of several NBA broadcasts for local news.
“Yahoo Sports is not naming the man due to privacy concerns. It is unknown where, when or how the man contracted the coronavirus. According to a friend, he began feeling ill about a week after the game. When home remedies didn’t work, he reported to a suburban area hospital on March 18.”
“He sent me a text saying, ‘Oh [expletive], they put me in an exam room with masks,’” friend Grov Tigue told Yahoo Sports. “At 11:11, he sent another one saying, ‘They say my oxygen level is low. They want to get it to a higher level.’ But he didn’t have a diagnosis yet.
“Thursday I texted him about the [Darius] Slay trade [involving the Detroit Lions] and he replied at 1:18 on Thursday, ‘Still in the hospital,’” Tigue said. “Saturday I hit him at 6:47 a.m. Then he replied at 3:48 p.m. He said, ‘I’ll be out of touch for a day or so.’ Then I found out they were putting him into a coma.
“[Doctors] couldn’t get his oxygen levels right. They pulled him out of the coma yesterday but put him back in,” Tigue said.”
Rudy Gobert, Donavan Mitchell of the Jazz as well as Pistons forward Christian Wood had all tested positive for the coronavirus.
Wood’s agent, Adam Pensack, stated on Wednesday that his client is “fully recovered” from the virus.
