Phoenix Suns point guard Chris Paul has entered the NBA's health and safety protocols and is out indefinitely, jeopardizing the star's availability for the Western Conference Finals, a source confirmed to ESPN's Malika Andrews .
The NBA's rules for isolation periods related to the coronavirus have evolved in relation to the increasing number of vaccines throughout the season. If Paul has already been vaccinated against COVID-19, he may face short absences from the Sun.
The Phoenix beat Denver in the conference semifinals and will face the Utah Jazz and LA Clippers in the Western Conference Finals beginning next week. Against the Nuggets, 36-year-old Paul averaged 25.5 points on 61.8% shooting, 3 to 58.3%, 100% from the free throw line, as well as a 41-to-5 assist-to-turnover ratio.
The Athletic first reported on Wednesday that entering into protocol would result in Paul being sidelined indefinitely.
Protocols are the league's playbook for handling all matters related to coronavirus this season. There have been instances of players going missing several weeks after positive COVID-19 tests; There are also instances of players going missing for a very short period of time for matters such as contact tracing investigations.
In March, the NBA relaxed some of the protocols it had put in place in the fall to receive a COVID-19 vaccine in response to players and coaches doing so.
But the league also warned at the time that "if a person has symptoms consistent with COVID-19, the previous protocols apply," which would mean that anyone with those symptoms "could be subject to quarantine." regardless of their vaccination status.
This, along with 2018, is set to be Paul's second visit to the Conference Finals, when he was a member of the Rockets and missed games 6 and 7 with a hamstring injury as Houston fell in game seven to the Golden State Warriors.