The NBA appears set on resuming the season in one or two proposed “bubble” locations where players and teams will stay to play their games.
Discussing that scenario in a video call, Jared Dudley of the Los Angeles Lakers explained that players and others inside the bubble wouldn’t be forced to quarantine there.
“You will be allowed to leave,” Dudley said, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “Now just because you leave, if we’re going to give you that leeway, if you come back with corona, you can’t play.”
The plan is for frequent COVID-19 testing to take place in the bubble, Dudley noted after conversations with commissioner Adam Silver and NBPA executive director Michele Roberts.
However, Dudley also believes that not every player will stay in the limited space for the rest of the season.
“When you’re dealing with 300 different players — if you’ve seen (The Last Dance), every team’s got a (Dennis) Rodman. He just doesn’t have green and blue hair,” Dudley said. “There’s always someone who’s outside the box, who does that, takes the risk and says, ‘Hey, listen, man, I’m healthy, and I feel good.'”
Despite that comment, Dudley still doesn’t believe that there would be many players who would take that risk.
He points out that contracting the virus from outside the bubble would force the player to miss time and would also put his teammates at risk.
“Bron, AD and all the top guys we have, we’ll be wrapping them in a bubble and not letting them go anywhere,” Dudley said. “You’ll have that be a team rule. Now, it won’t be a league, an NBA rule, but you’d want to say, ‘Listen, guys, we’ve come too far. We’re going to put our family on hold. … It’s going to be hard for two months, but it’s something we have to sacrifice.'”
The Lakers are still currently the favorites to win the NBA title on various sites, if and when the season resumes.
