After testing positive for coronavirus, Orlando Magic coach Steve Clifford will miss multiple games, starting with Sunday night’s game against Indiana, sources told ESPN.
Clifford has been asymptomatic and feeling well, but an original pattern of inconclusive tests followed with another positive test on Sunday morning will force Clifford to enter into the league’s health and safety protocols for the immediate future, sources said.
Assistant coach Tyrone Corbin will replace Clifford on the Magic’s bench, Clifford said on Saturday night.
Clifford originally tested positive Thursday night. He returned two negative tests Friday, giving hope that the first positive was a false result, then learned Saturday afternoon that a test he took that morning came back positive.
“I feel fine,” Clifford said Saturday evening. “I have no temperature. I feel 100%.”
Clifford has received both doses of the Moderna vaccine, getting the second one on Thursday. He is not yet considered “fully vaccinated” by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention protocols, since two weeks have not passed since his final dose. He said he has experienced no side effects from getting the vaccine.
He has dealt with some health issues in the past, including missing 21 games during the 2017-18 season when he coached in Charlotte after problems caused by sleep deprivation presented themselves, and he left a game at Minnesota in March 2020 after experiencing dizziness caused by dehydration.
Source : ESPN
