Detroit Pistons standout forward Christian Wood has tested positive for coronavirus, despite not showing any symptoms.
It was just announced by Shams Charania of The Athletic that Detroit Pistons forward Christian Wood has just tested positive for coronavirus.
Wood becomes the third player in the NBA to contract the virus, alongside Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell. He’s also the first person outside of the Utah Jazz to test positively.
Rumors had swirled on social media earlier today that all players in Detroit had tested negative. In retrospect, this is a perfect example of needing to properly vet sources.
The Pistons played the Utah Jazz last week, and Wood played one of the best games he’s ever had in his short career. He scored 30 points which at the time was a career high (before he broke it on Wednesday) while also securing 11 rebounds.
The highlight of the night was a monster dunk that he had on Gobert.
He’s reportedly not shown any symptoms, and is in good health. The NBA asked all teams that had played the Jazz in the previous ten days leading up to Wednesday to self-isolate. With the Pistons being one of those teams, that will certainly continue to be the case now more than ever.
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Wood had been having a breakout year for Detroit, and had set himself up for a pretty sizable contract relative to what he’s seen in past years. His emergence as one of the Pistons best scorers has been one of the most underrated story lines of the season.
He’s made a slow but steady case to become the NBA’s Most Improved Player of the Year. While it’s certainly a long shot that he would win, the potential is still there. His story is one of the best in basketball and he’s seized every opportunity he’s been given with the Pistons.
This news furthers the belief that the NBA, NHL, NCAA, and countless other organizations had made the correct call by postponing play. In an effort to contain the virus as best as humanly possible, this was a necessary step.
Wood’s brilliance on the court has been on full display since he was given an elevated role following the February 6th trade deadline that saw Andre Drummond sent to Cleveland.
Since then he’s averaged 22.8 points and 9.9 rebounds per game on 56.2 percent shooting, including 40.0 percent from three-point range.
We hope that he remains in good health, and that this does not impact anyone else on the team or staff.