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Last week, some headlines were made when NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said on TNT’s “Inside the NBA” that coaches over the age of 65 might not be able to be on the bench with their team’s when the season resumed at Disney World, something that led to significant pushback from various coaches and their union as a whole:
Asked Mike D'Antoni yesterday about possibility of this older group of NBA coaches being required to wear masks on bench: "I am sure they want to keep everyone safe, but to start singling people out with more risk, well, I would hope they wouldn’t want to get into that.” https://t.co/NOmG3jhoo6
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 5, 2020
On possibility of 65-year-old plus coaches wearing masks in games, D'Antoni and Alvin Gentry told ESPN they'd understand if every coach was required to do so, but didn't believe only they should be made to do so. Silver suggested on TNT those coaches may not be on bench at all.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 5, 2020
Alvin Gentry: “At the end of the day, they're the league. They're going to make the choice. I think it's unfair if that's what they're doing. I understand the risk that I'm taking if I do get it. But hell, I want to be with my team and do my job. That's what they hired me for."
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) June 5, 2020
Carlisle continued: ..."healthier than someone in their 30's or 40's. The conversation should never be solely about a person's age. Adam assured me that we would work through this together to help determine what is both safe and fair for all of our coaches." https://t.co/yYDldXL69D
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 5, 2020
Now, aside from there being reason for some level of concern that the NBA has approved a plan to resume the season without having details like that ironed out yet, it also is pretty clear that the league’s older head coaches don’t want to be singled out, even if it is theoretically for their protection. And if Broderick Turner of the L.A. Times’ latest report is anything to go off of, it would seem that assistant coaches — like Lionel Hollins of the Lakers — are no less determined to join their teams on the bench in Orlando:
Lakers assistant coach Lionel Hollins is 66, but has insisted that he wants to be with the team for the eight seeding games and playoffs at Walt Disney World.
“Lionel wants to go. Lionel is in,” one person said. “Those older coaches like Lionel believe it’s going to be safe in Orlando.”
Such faith in the league is to some degree earned. Silver did make the NBA the first league to shut down when Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for the coronavirus, not even consulting with his bosses — the NBA’s Board of Governors — before doing so. The league clearly does prioritize the health and safety of its workforce pretty highly. It’s also completely understandable that Hollins and other coaches over the age of 65 would want to be with the teams they’ve grinded with all year to finish this journey together, and not be singled out for isolation.
That said, this is why it’s so important that, despite Florida being as open as any state in the U.S., it’s important for the league to come to an agreement on their being a fully isolated bubble in Disney World. JaVale McGee and some other players may not like the idea of being fully sequestered — and the league should not be allowed to force them to be — but for the safety of everyone, the players’ union should come to a mutual agreement with the NBA that it’s best that everyone coming to the bubble stays there once inside, just to mitigate the risk of someone bringing the virus back in and spreading it.
If they can’t do that, the risk of coaches like Hollins being on the bench — without even a mask, if the other coaches’ pushback is anything to gauge this off of — is a lot higher, no matter how well-intentioned everyone is about this. The league testing players every day is a great start to a plan, but there is still more of a risk of spread if people are able to go in and out of the complex without quarantining, raising the risk of bursting the “bubble.” We’ll see what the league ultimately does, but hopefully the league provides some clear answers — and reasons for those conclusions — when it reveals its health and safety protocols at some point this week.
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