It’s rare to find a slice of life that hasn’t been affected by the pandemic.
In no real surprise, you can add the off-court duties of NBA basketball players to the list. For the league to currently have a product, players must undergo daily Covid-19 testing.
But apparently, not only is the testing daily, it’s done multiple times per day, according to Warriors forward Draymond Green,
In the aftermath of Golden State’s blowout loss to the Clippers on Friday, Green told Warriors reporters he had three tests scheduled within 24 hours. And during Green’s comments, don’t forget that rookie center James Wiseman missed most of that game due to issues stemming from a missed test.
“You never want to say never,” Green says in the above clip, “But I feel like it’s very hard for somebody to test negative at 5 to 6 and then … I mean …
“It’s a lot. So, I hope these fans appreciating these games they get the chance to watch. Because there’s a lot more that go into getting out there, playing these games. Sometimes you get to the game and you’re like ‘Oh, it’s a basketball game now. Cool. Maybe we should go play.’ I don’t know, man. It’s a lot.”
Green’s certainly appears a bit frustrated, and it’s definitely genuine, as Green is known to be, but I also think this explanation has a bit to do with Wiseman. At the least, he’s providing a bit of cover for the rookie’s mistake, whether its intentional or not.
After all, Wiseman is the only No. 2 pick in history to have multiple daily virus tests to contend with. In years past, Wiseman would have played as planned on Friday, in theory, anyway.
But it’s definitely safe to say the fans are enjoying the show. It’s unfortunate they can’t let Green know in person at Chase Center, but hopefully Green gets the message or already knows what it is: please keep getting tested daily and taking other measures to stop the pandemic, because NBA basketball is one part of life that’s difficult to do without.
(Photo credit Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports)
Bay Area Sports Hub 