James Wiseman benched in first half of return from failed COVID-19 test



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Warriors rookie James Wiseman did not play in the first half of Thursday’s game against the Los Angeles Clippers, Golden State’s first after the All-Star break and Wiseman’s first since he took off. missed a mandatory coronavirus test during the break.

The NBA cleared Wiseman to play on Thursday, Warriors coach Steve Kerr told reporters on a pre-game video conference, but Kevon Looney started in his place in the middle. Wiseman started Golden State’s last game before the break, and Kerr said at the time the 19-year-old would play more in the second half of the season.

Kerr said ahead of Thursday’s game that Wiseman’s development needs to be more “comprehensive” than playing more in the games.

“As we look big, in the second half of the season we would definitely like to play James more,” Kerr said. “But for me development is really a complete thing, so a lot of the second half of the season is also what we’re going to do in practice. We would like to have more live action in practice, but It doesn’t. It doesn’t just mean, “Alright, we have to play James for more minutes.”

“This is really about the full development of a young man who is brand new to the league and anything we can do to take him forward so he can catch up with his talent as quickly as possible, we are going to do it. But we “You are also well aware that you cannot just wave a magic wand. There is a lot of work to be done and we are going to work with him and help him grow. And it is an exciting process.”

Kerr’s final comments on Wiseman’s development came a day after he expressed disappointment at Wiseman’s “mistake” for missing a test during the break. Wiseman “could have used the training” and the Warriors “needed him there,” Kerr said after Wednesday’s practice.

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The Warriors trailed 59-43 after the first half on Thursday. Golden State lost just two points after the first quarter, but their second unit was outdone 20-9 on the first 7:11 of the second quarter.

Wiseman, Brad Wanamaker, Mychal Mulder and Damion Lee were the only Warriors not to have played in the first half.

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