Robby Sikka (ex-vice president of NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves), warned that there would be an increase sports-related deaths. Covid cases is a “really bad sign for our country” in the coming weeks.

“The leagues have led the way, and I think that this is going to portend a lot more cases as we get into the Christmas holidays,” Sikka said Tuesday evening on CNBC’s “The News with Shepard Smith.”

Even though the NBA’s 97% vaccination rate has been maintained, there have been an increase of cases.

Five Brooklyn Nets players were placed on Covid protocols Monday by the team. They are awaiting either positive or inconclusive test results. After a positive test result, the Los Angeles Lakers cancelled their practice on Tuesday.

LeBron Jam, Lakers’ player for the Lakers, has been cleared to resume play after missing one under safety and health protocols. The league announced that LeBron James was cleared to return after missing one game under the NBA’s safety and health protocols. James was not positiveCovid was positive for the vaccine despite multiple tests showing conflicting results. James claims he has been vaccinated.

Currently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says 61%A majority of American citizens are fully vaccinated. The U.S. seven-day average of daily cases is around 120,000, according to a CNBC analysis of Johns Hopkins University data. It was discovered in southern Africa around a month before it became widespread. now makes up about 3% of cases sequenced in the U.S., according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC says that omicron continues to spread rapidly, despite the fact that delta is still the predominant strain in the U.S.

Sikka said the best possible strategy going into the holidays is to combine “layers of protection,” testing, masking and vaccination. As a problem in U.S. strategies to fight Covid, he cited the absence of a national test strategy.

Encouraging booster shots leading into the holidays, Sikka said, “The NBA has seen a large percentage of players get boosted” and it’s going to help keep them in the game.

High booster rates are not just the goal of the NBA.

According to a memoCNBC obtained that the NFL requires anyone who comes in contact with any player, including staff members and coaches to receive Covid booster shots no later than Dec. 27, according to CNBC.

— The Associated Press contributed to this report.