The Wizards have not played a game since Jan. 11 as the team deals with a COVID-19 outbreak within the organization.
Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal revealed Wednesday that he and his team are 'fighting' the league to have Friday's game against the Milwaukee Bucks postponed, according to Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press.
Beal and point guard Russell Westbrook will ask Michele Roberts, executive director of the National Basketball Players Association, for assistance, as the team's feeling is that there are not enough healthy players available to safely play the game.
The Wizards have been out of action since Jan. 11 while dealing an outbreak within the organization. Last week, Shams Charania of The Athletic reported that five Washington players had tested positive for COVID-19.
So far, the NBA has postponed 16 games this season, most recently Wednesday's game between the Memphis Grizzlies and Portland Trail Blazers. The league reported 11 new players have tested positive in the past week, per Reynolds, down from 16 in the previous week.
The league requires teams to have eight healthy players suited up in order to play a game. The Wizards returned to practice on Wednesday, just meeting the minimum requirement with eight healthy players.
Beal said that resuming play after missing so much practice time would be "a recipe for injury," according to NBC Sports's Chase Hughes.
On Tuesday, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said the league has considered giving its players the COVID-19 vaccine in order to educate and influence the public.
"It's something we're particularly focused on," Silver said in a virtual conference hosted by Sportico. "In the African American community, there's been an enormously disparate impact from COVID. ...But now, somewhat perversely, there's been enormous resistance [to vaccinations] in the African American community for understandable historical reasons."