Oklahoma City Thunder guard George Hill didn’t hold back when asked about the new, stricter COVID-19 protocols the NBA.
After a loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday night, Hill didn’t hold back, questioning the protocols’ effectiveness and declaring he would make his own decisions about how to go about his days.
“I’m a grown man, so I’m gonna do what I wanna do,” he said, via The Oklahoman. “If I wanna go see my family, I’m gonna go see my family. They can’t tell me I have to stay in the room 24/7. If it’s that serious then maybe we shouldn’t be playing. It’s life. No one’s gonna be able to just cancel their whole life for this game.”
It feels like a reminder of life in the Disney World bubble that was just months ago. It was that sequestering from the outside world that took a mental toll on many players, who publicly spoke about what they were struggling with.
And in other quotes from Hill, you can see where he’s going with this — if we’re getting closer to a bubble-like environment, what are we doing here?
“We wanna play the game. That’s what we love to do. But at the same time if we’re casting all these rules, this and that, maybe they need to reevaluate what we’re doing. …
“I just don’t understand some of the rules as far as we can sweat 48 minutes with the guy next to us and the team next to us, but we can’t talk to him after the game. It makes no sense.”
The NBA continues to deal with game postponements due to its protocols. Wednesday’s Utah Jazz and Washington Wizards contest is the latest to be delayed due to COVID-19 issues.
