The National Basketball Association will require players to wear contact tracing sensors during all team-organized activities outside of games beginning Jan. 7, ESPN reported Thursday citing an internal league memo.
All players and some specific team personnel, such as coaches, will be required to wear KINEXON SafeZone contact sensor devices on the team plane, the team bus, during practices, and to and from the arena or their home practice facility in connection with team travel, ESPN said quoting the memo.
The NBA season began Dec. 22 — about two months later than usual — with teams playing in their home stadia. Last season was suspended on March 11 due to the outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 and resumed July 30 with all teams playing in isolation at Walt Disney World’s sports complex near Orlando, Florida.
The sensors were voluntary during the isolation — or bubble — games in Orlando with players typically wearing them around their neck on a lanyard, ESPN said.
Not wearing the devices is subject to sanctions, although specifics were not apparent. The sensors are not required during games or at the team hotel.
A testing period began Dec. 23 and the program is to be implemented on Jan. 7, ESPN reported quoting a separate memo.
The devices do not record location data but activate when two sensors come within 6 feet of one another. A ''proximity alarm'' that was used while the teams were in Orlando will be disabled, but the devices instead will be used to record "distance and duration of in-person interactions" with others also wearing a sensor.
The NBA believes the use of the devices will be useful in contact tracing in instances of positive coronavirus infections.
ESPN quoted an unidentified ''health official'' with knowledge of the program as saying the policy should help in determining which players or staff need to be quarantined.
"We don't want to have to needlessly quarantine someone that doesn't need to be," said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.