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Bulls' Javonte Green tests positive for COVID-19, joins Coby White as league deals with outbreak

The Chicago Bulls’ COVID-19 outbreak appears to be getting worse.

Bulls guard Javonte Green tested positive for the coronavirus on Friday, coach Billy Donovan said before Saturday’s game against the Brooklyn Nets, making him the second Bulls player to test positive in recent days. Coby White tested positive earlier this week, and did not make the trip to New York.

Green, Donovan said, drove back to Chicago on Friday after learning of his positive test. He is feeling fine, but the team will continue daily testing — something Donovan expects the league to start doing too.

"I don't think there's any question that's happening. I think there's going to be, my guess would be, stricter policies than there have been this year,” Donovan said, via ESPN. “To your point, I think Thanksgiving and you're dealing with Christmas and then New Year's ... people are going to be around family. I think that the way it's moving right now is it's getting a little more stricter.

"Certainly for us right now it's a lot stricter because we've got two players who are positive."

Green has averaged 5.4 points and 2.7 rebounds per game so far this season, his second with the Bulls after landing there midway through last season. The 28-year-old is in his third season in the league after starting with the Boston Celtics.

The Bulls aren't the only team dealing with an outbreak, either. The Charlotte Hornets, who played the Bulls on Monday, sent four players into the league’s health and safety protocols on Saturday. LaMelo Ball, Jalen McDaniels, Mason Plumlee and Terry Rozier have all been sidelined. It’s unclear if any of those four actually tested positive or not.

“We're not the only team that's dealing with it, that's had to deal with it,” Donovan said, via ESPN. "I think there was obviously some hope and some optimism we kind of passed this going into the season. That certainly hasn't happened.

“But our guys have handled it, and the whole thing about you have to control what you can control. There's a lot of inconveniences, things can get frustrating and annoying and you worry about are you infected or are you healthy, and you've got a couple teammates and guys on the team who have tested positive, so I'm sure some of that stuff goes through those guys' minds."