Phoenix Suns: Narrowing down which players might have COVID-19

The Phoenix Suns reportedly have two players who have tested positive for COVID-19. With a series of internet clues, we can narrow down who they might be.

The Arizona Republic reported two weeks ago that two Phoenix Suns players tested positive for COVID-19, but up this point, the team has done an impressive job about keeping their identifies a mystery.

I understand people’s personal health records are not public fodder, but part of me wonders why the team feels like secrecy is paramount during the global pandemic that uprooted the entire season. A handful of other players (i.e. Spencer Dinwiddie, Nikola Jokic, DeAndre Jordan, Malcolm Brogdon, Jabari Parker, among others) have tested positive and haven’t been shy about announcing it.

Regardless, we do know a couple of players did not make the trip with the team to Orlando, but the hope is they will join the team at some point. We just don’t know who.

Ultimately, you have to expect these guys’ privacy, but that doesn’t stop us from speculating, and thanks to the invention of the Internet, we can cosplay as Sherlock from our couch.

Full disclaimer here, I do not know who on the team has tested positive. No clue whatsoever. My online puzzle piecing is just conjecture and this by no means proves anything. Having said that, here is my best effort to narrow down who on the team might have tested positive and thus not yet with the team at Disney.

Phoenix Suns players we can definitely rule out:

All the following players have been seen in pictures or videos from official team outlets:

• Devin Booker
• Deandre Ayton
• Kelly Oubre
• Dario Saric
• Jevon Carter
• Ty Jerome
• Cameron Johnson
• Cameron Payne

Phoenix Suns players we can probably rule out:

• Ricky Rubio
  • Rubio posted on his Instagram a message to his wife that he missed her. Unless he is quarantining in a separate location, he is probably in Orlando.
• Cheick Diallo
  • Diallo tweeted out, “Orlando, here we come!” on the day the team plane left, so one would think he is with them.

Phoenix Suns players who are possible, but unlikely:

• Elie Okobo
  • Okobo tweeted out, “Let’s go Suns nation, can’t wait!” on July 1st in response to the team sending out the schedule. Maybe this was an effort to throw us off, but I doubt it.
• Mikal Bridges
  • Monty Williams referenced Bridges when talking about experimenting at Disney, so unless he was just spitballing random names (which is possible), my guess is that he is with the team in Orlando.

Phoenix Suns players who we can’t rule out, but have little on:

• Aron Baynes
• Jalen Lecque

Based on the process of elimination, at least one of these players is likely to have tested positive, but there simply isn’t enough info out there to suggest one way or the other. Their social media accounts have been void of clues and no photos or videos have been released featuring these guys in Disney.

Considering Lecque hasn’t traveled with the team much of season, I’m not sure he would get an invite to an environment where the fewer people the better, regardless of his virus situation. Still, we can’t say for sure.

Phoenix Suns player with a hint toward having tested positive:

• Frank Kaminsky

Allow me to reiterate my caveat once again: I do not know if who or who has not tested positive for COVID-19. However, if I had to bet, I would shove a few chips in the direction of Frank the Tank Kaminsky.

Frank has not been seen in any videos or photos from Disney and a week ago, he posted on Instagram the following cryptic quote:

"“The night is darkest just before the dawn, and I promise you the dawn is coming.”"

This is not exactly the kind of “Mickey, I’m coming!” style message we’ve seen from other players. If his night is super dark, that tells me things aren’t going well for him, which could point to a potential positive test.

Again, this is pure speculation.

Summary

For the too-long-didn’t-read (TLDR) crowd, my amateur sleuthing makes me think Frank Kaminsky is the most likely player to have contracted COVID-19. If I absolutely had to pick a second player, I would guess Aron Baynes based on the process of elimination, but this very well could change as the Suns continue to practice and more information becomes available.

The good news is that, unlike other players around the league, the Suns haven’t ruled out these guys who did not travel with the team from eventually joining the bubble and playing. Let’s hope regardless of who it is, the Suns will have their full complement of players available to them (minus Kelly Oubre, of course).