Spencer Dinwiddie optimistic about return to practice as COVID-19 symptoms subside

When you’re down to 12 healthy players and one of your unhealthy ones reports that his COVID-19 symptoms are subsiding, it’s a good day.

Late Sunday, Spencer Dinwiddie tweeted out one of his regular health updates, reporting that not only are symptoms subsiding and he got back on his exercise bike, but he might return to HSS Training Center on Tuesday ... and fly to Orlando later that day!

That’s the day his healthy teammates and staff will be heading south to Orlando and the “bubble.” In response to a question from Greg Logan, Dinwiddie took to Twitter again to say he could even join the Nets charter later Tuesday.

Under league rules, Dinwiddie can still travel to Florida after the Nets depart. The Nets leading scorer has said from the beginning that he wants to play if healthy.

He’s been providing almost daily reports on his battle with the disease noting two days back that the Nets had provided him with workout gear.

Nothing of course is guaranteed, starting with the trip to Orlando. Many COVID-19 patients report continuing difficulties. Rudy Gobert, the first NBA player to be diagnosed, reported last week that he still hadn’t fully regained his sense of smell.

Earlier Sunday, Dinwiddie retweeted a NetsDaily post offering best wishes to him and DeAndre Jordan who tested positive the same day Dinwiddie told Shams Charania he was experiencing symptoms.

There’s no update on how Jordan is feeling.

Saturday, Malika Andrews, who covers the Nets for ESPN and will be the lead ESPN reporter throughout the NBA return-to-play in Orlando, wrote about a league directive governing travel for players who need to stay behind.

[I]t is unlikely that players who have tested positive in the past week will be able to fly with their teams. According to the league’s health and safety guidelines, any player who has contracted COVID-19 must quarantine and test negative twice before being medically cleared to make the trip. Or, if he misses a test in the two days prior to the team’s flight, he will have to return three consecutive negative tests before traveling.

The Nets first game in the “bubble” is still more than three weeks away.

No word yet on who the Nets may sign as a substitute for Jordan. If Dinwiddie is healthy and the Nets replace Jordan as expected, Brooklyn will have 14 healthy players ... assuming no one else gets sick or hurt.

Wilson Chandler, who opted out last week, has returned to his hometown of Benton Harbor, Michigan, where his 87-year-old grandmother lives. Al Harrington, the former NBA player, posted a picture of Chandler at the opening of Harrington’s marijuana dispensary in Benton Harbor. Marijuana was legalized in Michigan two years go.

• Spencer Dinwiddie suddenly hopeful to join Nets for NBA restart - Brian Lewis - New York Post