NZ Breakers coach Dan Shamir is recovering well and preparing to rejoin the team, after he was one of the touring party infected with COVID-19 last week.
Shamir, 46, and eight other members of the Breakers camp tested positive for COVID-19, with the start of the 2021/22 ANBL season looming.
And after league official rejected their request to postpone Saturday's season-opening clash against South East Melbourne Phoenix , the Breakers will take the court without their coach and more than one starting player.
In Shamir's absence, assistant coach Mody Maor will take charge of the team and reveals how his longtime head coach is recovering from the virus.
"Dan's getting better, he's feeling better and stronger every day," Maor says. "We're expecting him to join the team around Monday and we're really looking forward to it.
"It's not something I would have expected, it's not something that we would have wanted.
"This is something forced upon us. This is the hand we've been dealt, this is the hand we're gonna play."
Aside from Shamir, several players - as well as owner Matt Walsh - have also been isolating, after contracting the virus.
While they're also coming along in their respective recoveries, the setback is just the latest for the Breakers, who've had arguably the toughest run of any ANBL side since the start of the pandemic.
The team have been based in Australia since 2020 and parted ways with star guard Tai Webster, who refused to be vaccinated against COVID.
But geared up for another tilt at a first championship since 2015, Maor insists the team won't be broken by the events of the past week.
"We've had COVID run through our team a little bit. We're happy the people that are sick are starting to feel better, starting to live symptom free, starting to come out of isolation.
"The part of the team that was not sick and was healthy, once we were able to prove we were good with our negative tests, we went into training to prepare for the game.
"The feeling of deja vu is creeping in, but we've all learned from our challenges and this group is a tough group.
"We think that this time we have a better chance of overcoming them."
