Bulls cleared by NBA to return to practice after COVID-19 outbreak, two postponed games

The Bulls had 10 players in the league's health and safety protocols at one point

After having 10 players in the NBA's health and safety protocols due to a COVID-19 outbreak, the Chicago Bulls have been cleared to practice again for the first time in a week. The Bulls are scheduled to play the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday, after having not played a game in eight days after the league decided to postpone two of their games, Dec. 14 vs. the Pistons and Dec. 16 vs. the Raptors. 

As of right now, the Bulls have three players who have exited protocols: DeMar DeRozan, Coby White and Javonte Green, all of whom were the first three players to be sidelined with the virus in early December. But that still leaves seven Chicago players sidelined, including Zach LaVine, Ayo Dosunmu, Derrick Jones Jr., Stanley Johnson, Matt Thomas, Troy Brown Jr. and Alize Johnson. 

The Bulls were one of the teams hit the hardest by COVID-19 early on this season, but over the past week, the virus has heavily impacted almost every team across the league. In the past week alone, 50 players have entered health and safety protocols, while 70 players have entered across the month of December. As a response to the rapid uptick in positive COVID-19 cases in the NBA, the league -- in conjunction with the player's union -- has agreed to change its protocols surrounding the virus, which will include testing for all players and staff on all game days unless they have received a booster shot 14 or more days earlier. 

The NBA has also been in talks to expand rosters to handle the number of players entering protocols on a daily basis. Nothing has been decided on this front just yet, but it would help avoid postponing any more matchups like the league had to do with the Bulls' last two games. Right now, the league is just trying to stay flexible in how they're handling this recent uptick in cases, as it's clear we're still not out of the woods with this pandemic yet.

As for the Bulls, it appears they're getting on the other side of their team outbreak, with players mostly experiencing little to no symptoms. That's a positive for a team that started out incredibly well this season and currently sits second in the Eastern Conference with an impressive 17-10 record.