Breaking news came out of the NBA today as Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid were officially ruled out of the All-Star Game due to COVID-19 protocols. Both players share a personal barber and after meeting with the man before their flight to Atlanta, the barber tested positive for the Coronavirus. After a second test, it was confirmed that the barber still had the virus, which ultimately forced Embiid and Simmons to not participate in the match, with no roster replacements.
Embiid was one of the starting players for Team Durant, and now, his spot on the starting lineup is being filled by one of the younger talents in the NBA. Of course, we are talking about Zion Williamson of the New Orleans Pelicans who has been a blockbuster player for NOLA so far this season.
Having Williamson on the court to start his very first All-Star Game will be huge for the league and it will probably help out the ratings quite a bit. Zion is one of those guys that everyone wants to see play and having him front and center tonight will be a whole lot of fun.
Hopefully, the rest of the players in the league are able to stay healthy from now until tonight, and we get ourselves a fun and entertaining All-Star experience.