Utah Jazz point guard Mike Conley has left the NBA bubble to witness the birth of his son. Conley will miss the team's first playoff game against the Denver Nuggets, Monday.
No timeline was given for Conley's return. Assuming Conley tests negative each of the next seven days, his quarantine mandate would only be four days.
Conley has averaged 18 points and five assists per game since the NBA's return in Orlando.
"Any time you go through change at whatever capacity in life, there are challenges," Jazz head coach Quin Snyder said after Saturday's practice. "And Mike probably went through as much change over the course of this offseason than certainly anyone I've ever coached. Playing with new personnel, playing in a new city, having been in Memphis for his whole career, which was a long, great career there, and not starting over, but trying to process all of the things that were new."
Nuggets coach Michael Malone says the Jazz will still be a difficult opponent even without Conley: "If Mike Conley is not available for Game 1, whatever it is, I am sure other guys will step up. We were able to go into Utah this year and win with seven guys. I don't buy into that too much. If Mike Conley is not available, that means more Donovan Mitchell, who is an all-NBA-caliber player."
The Jazz and Nuggets will tip-off at 1:30 PM ET Monday.
[Via]