Sundays postponed Semifinal matchup between the Seattle Storm and Minnesota Lynx has been rescheduled for tonight at 9:00pm ET.
Game 1 between the Lynx and Storm was postponed following inconclusive COVID-19 test results with the Seattle players. The league announced only a couple of hours before they were supposed to tip out of caution. Commissioner Cather Engelbert was able to reach the team before they loaded the bus for the game. The player who were of concerned entered isolation until the results were examined further.
“It wasn’t about basketball at that point, it’s about doing the right thing,” Engelbert said in an interview with Holly Rowe. “So we could just have another day to get more testing done. This is the hardest part of COVID-19 and putting on live sports during it, is every day you’re reset to zero. The fact that we might have had 70 negatives before this doesn’t actually matter. It’s about keeping the bubble safe, making sure there’s no community spread.”
Per league protocol, if they get back inconclusive tests, individuals must have additional testing and show two negative test results before being cleared to play. The WNBA now has the capabilities to use rapid testing which were administered on Sunday and Monday. Seattle players have been cleared to play except for one who it waiting on additional results.
News of the rescheduling is a good sign that there are no positive test results and this was just a scenario of being cautious. Up until this point, the WNBA regular season went as planned and no games were postponed due to COVID-19 issues. There have been multiple instances of players or staff receiving inconclusive results and potentially missing games, but all additional testing came back as negative.
The WNBA Semifinals are set to resume on Tuesday, September 22 with the Aces vs. Sun Game 2 tipping at 7:00pm ET and the Storm vs. Lynx Game 1 following at 9:00pm ET. Both games will air on ESPN2.
