If an unnamed faction of NBA players concerned with the safety of returning to play in the midst of a pandemic get their way, they and anyone who shares their concerns won’t have to suit up until things are safe again.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports that there is a group of players who doubt the safety of resuming play in the so-called ‘Orlando bubble’, even with the league’s detailed safety protocol of daily testing and quarantine periods.
Several dozen such concerned players participated in a conference call on the subject over the last day, and it would not surprise to hear Boston Celtics fourth-year shooting guard Jaylen Brown as being one of them.
While there is no specific reporting tying the Georgia native to the faction, he is one of several vice presidents of the National Basketball Players’ Association (NBPA), and has publicly asked for information on the long-term impact of coronavirus on player health.
Brown also penned an opinion piece on the viral pandemic’s tendency to lay bare systemic inequities in the U.S in the Guardian in April.
It is far too early to know how asymptomatic infection — or even full-blown COVID-19 complications — can be expected to impact players long-term, but there have been many anecdotal reports of a concerning loss of lung capacity, nerve damage and other negative outcomes that are justifiably worrisome.
To that end, the NBPA and NBA are expected to come to an agreement that lets players sit out with no penalty save for a portion of wages lost for choosing not to play, reports Wojnarowski.
There are also reports being relayed to retired NBA veteran Matt Barnes that some players on at least the Los Angeles teams are not comfortable returning to play until the ongoing racial justice issues behind the flood of protests across the U.S. and world are addressed.
Barnes co-hosts a podcast with another retired basketball player, Stephen Jackson — a personal friend of George Floyd, whose killing by a white police officer helped spark the protests in question.
