Frank Vogel says he hasn’t been tested for coronavirus, doesn’t know which Lakers tested positive

Two weeks ago, two players from the Los Angeles Lakers tested positive for the coronavirus, brining the number of confirmed cases in the NBA to 10. Since then, it’s risen to 15.

Of those 15 cases, only six of them have had names attached to them, and the Lakers are one of the teams that have decided to keep their cases private — so private that not even the team’s head coach, Frank Vogel, knows which of his two players tested positive for COVID-19 (via Jackie MacMullan of ESPN):

After four Nets players tested positive for COVID-19, the Lakers were immediately tested and placed in a 14-day quarantine and only emerged on Tuesday. In the wake of Detroit Pistons big man Christian Wood’s positive test result being reported against his wishes and before he could notify his mother, the Lakers have kept confidential the names of two players who tested positive.

”I don’t even know who are they,” Vogel said, “and I’m totally fine with that.”

Vogel’s attitude is probably the right attitude to have towards this situation. Outside of the people that the two players made close contact with in the weeks leading up their diagnosis — and their loved one — it’s no one’s business which Lakers tested positive for the coronavirus.

As for Vogel’s health, he said he’s feeling well, but he also said he, nor the team’s staff, have been tested for the coronavirus despite reports that more staff would likely get tested (via Tania Ganguli of the L.A. Times):

“We were not told to be tested,” Vogel said about himself and the rest of his staff. “And obviously everybody recognized the shortage of tests and we were only going to do what the local health department told us to do. … So I reassured my family that I was in good health and obviously, while I had been around those guys, there had been some social distancing guidelines in place so I felt fine and I also felt confident that a test wasn’t needed for me personally.”

On Tuesday, the Lakers announced that all of their players were symptom-free following their 14-day quarantine. Obviously, the hope is that the staff is healthy, too, but if anything changes, it’s safe to assume the Lakers will keep that close to their vest as well.

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