Impact of COVID-19 on Recovered Athletes Returning to Competitive Play in the NBA Bubble

Background: The global pandemic caused by COVID-19 has had far-reaching implications for the world of professional sports. The National Basketball Association (NBA) suspended active regular season play in 2020 after a player tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. No previous studies have examined the impact of COVID-19 on return to play in the NBA. Purpose/Hypothesis: The purpose of this study was to examine performance measures for NBA players who had recovered from COVID-19 and returned to play in the NBA bubble. We hypothesized that these athletes would play fewer minutes and have decreased performance statistics compared with performance during the 2019-2020 regular season prior to the lockdown and with career averages. Study Design: Case series; Level of evidence, 4. Methods: NBA players positive for SARS-CoV-2 who played in both the 2019-2020 regular season and the NBA bubble were identified. Data collected included player demographics and player performance statistics. Results: A total of 20 players were included in the study. Players who had recovered from COVID-19 played significantly fewer minutes per game in the NBA bubble (25.8 vs 28.7; P = .04) and made fewer field goals per game (4.6 vs 5.4; P = .02) compared with the season prior to shutdown. While NBA bubble players demonstrated slight decreases in averages for points (P = .06), rebounds (P =.13), assists (P = .23), steals (P = .30), and blocks (P = .71) per game, these were not statistically significant. Aside from an increase in made free throws per game during the bubble (3.3 vs 2.8; P = .04), player performance was not significantly different from career averages. Conclusion: For players who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 prior to playing in the NBA bubble, the current study demonstrated that despite playing significantly fewer minutes per game, performance was not statistically different from either their pre-COVID 2019-2020 level of play or from their career averages.

Automated summary

The study found that NBA players who recovered from COVID-19 and returned to play in the NBA bubble generally performed worse, with reduced minutes per game and field goals made. However, their overall performance was not significantly different from their career averages.