From First to Worst
On February 5th, Kevin Durant was ruled out for a game due to Contact Tracing reasons; rather, he was until he wasn’t. Part way through the game, the NBA ruled him eligible to play in the game; rather, they did until he wasn’t. After playing a little under 20 minutes of the bench, he was declared ineligible again and did not take kindly to it: his tamest tweet regarding the incident read “Free me”. The issue with this situation is not that Durant was put in a bad situation, but rather that it shows that the league that initially handled the pandemic the best out of the major U.S. sports now has shown multiple situations of incompetence in their ability to handle it.
I would like to start by giving the NBA some credit and cutting some slack. I have previously written that I
considered the Bubble to be a massive success for what they were trying to
do: finish an NBA season while preventing
the contraction of Covid-19. That said,
they were not going to be able to do this again; even while ignoring the cost
and logistics of the Bubble that make it unfeasible, the players wouldn’t agree
to do an entire season in a Bubble (based on the mental strain that many found
inside it, I don’t blame them one bit).
Without the Bubble, it was inevitable that there would be outbreak
amongst teams, even if every player followed guidelines, especially considering
most of the players live in cities. While
some criticized the NBA for not necessarily providing clarity about what it
takes to shut down the season, I agree with that decision due to the changing
nature of research of the virus. I also
thought it was a wise decision to only have half of the schedule out. While it has been controversial, I think the
idea of doing contract tracing is good for the abundance of cautiousness.
That said, my praise for the league largely ends there. At the start of the season, James Harden was
fined $50k for violating Covid protocols when he posted videos and images of
him at multiple clubs. I won’t nitpick the
decision to solely fine and not suspend him, but I still think this punishment was
too weak for two reasons: it doesn’t
impact Harden considering his salary is over $40M for this year and I don’t
believe this punishment is enough of a punishment to discourage most players. While I don’t assume the worst out of the
players and don’t expect most to follow suit, the median salary last season was
$2.96M, meaning this fine is around 1.7% of this value. In most cases I wouldn’t be in favor of
having a fine for this percentage, but to put it into context some previous
fines for much more: Damon Stoudemire
was fined $250k for multiple marijuana arrests in 2003, Heat owner Micky Arison
was fined $250k for tweeting a criticism of the league’s handling of the lockout
in 2011, and Mavericks owner Mark Cuban was fined $250k on two occasions (2001
and 2006) for treatment towards officials.
The closest previous incident of a fine was Vladimir Radmanović’s 2007
fine of $500k for violating his contract and snowboarding in the offseason, which
is an activity that is generally not allowed.
Since the pandemic guidelines were accepted, they could likely argue
that this is an addition to the contract and any behavior that violates protocols
could result in a larger fine. Maybe
this is a null point as the only other player who has been fined $50k is now
teammate Kyrie Irving, but I don’t believe it was enough.
The fact that Durant was removed from the game after playing
is a sign that the league isn’t doing their due diligence before making a ruling. If in less than a 3-hour span, he went from
being ineligible to being eligible to being ineligible again, there shouldn’t have
been a period where he was allowed on the court to play. It is one thing if there were injury reasons,
but the league needs to complete contact tracing prior to the games. A similar incident happened with Seth Curry
previously, where he was on the bench before it was discovered he actually had Covid,
resulting in an outbreak with the 76ers.
The league would likely shift this issue to the teams, but several team
employees have expressed that contact tracing and Covid issues have largely
been shifted over to the trainers, making these employees responsible for more
than what was already a full-time job for them.
In the requirements that the league was listed, did it specifically say
that the team would be required to provide these employees? If this is the case, it’s a little more
forgivable, but I consider it to be an oversight on the NBA’s end as well. Contact tracing and Covid tests need to be
completed prior to games, and I do not believe the NBA has helped set teams up
to accomplish this.
The most damning and telling sign that the NBA has lost
control over this is that while the Durant contact tracing fiasco ensued, the
NBA and Players Association were discussing plans to hold an All-Star game in
Atlanta. While I am not quite in favor of
holding it, if the league is able to prevent it from being a super-spreader
event, then I understand the idea of considering it. That said, having 24 players from likely 12-18
different teams will increase the likelihood of Covid being spread. The way to prevent it would be to force them to
stay in their rooms the entire timespan, which would make me question if they
consider it safe enough to hold, especially considering it doesn’t matter for
the season. Several star players have criticized
the decision, including LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Harden,
especially after several were under the impression that the game would not be
held based on the league’s previous statements.
The argument against it that I agree with the most comes from Kawhi
Leonard, who fears that the league is prioritizing “money over health”. By not providing teams ample sources to meet
their guidelines, not doing enough to discourage players from breaking
protocols, and planning an exhibition game while claiming they’re trying to
prevent the spread of the virus shows that they don’t actually care about keeping
their players and communities safe but are doing so out of convenience for
money and publicity. The league that was
once handled Covid-19 best out of all the big 4 American sports now is
struggling to control the beast they created.
As a bonus, I would like to give my analysis and grades for
a trade that occurred on February 7th, where Derrick Rose was traded
from the Detroit Pistons to the New York Knicks in exchange for Dennis Smith
Jr. and the Knick’s 2021 2nd round pick. While I expected Rose would be traded, I expected
that the Clippers would have made a stronger push for him given their lack of
point guard; I didn’t expect the Knicks to get him for that amount. Ultimately, I think it’s a trade that makes sense
for both teams but largely feels ordinary to me for both sides.
New York
Knicks: Derrick Rose
It was clear that Smith wasn’t in their plans long-term, as
he totally fell out of the rotation, so it made sense to trade him. In my opinion, it is more about if it is
worth a 2nd round pick to get him.
Unless the Knicks suddenly struggle, it wouldn’t surprise me if that
pick is in the low 40’s at worst, so I don’t blame them for giving that pick up
to bring some playoff hope to the city. I
have felt for a bit that I wanted New York to get another point guard since
Immanuel Quickley played a lot off the ball in college. I’m not sure about the fit of Rose with
Quickley defensively, but they’ll be able to make it work. I think Rose’s leadership will help Quickley
and it was nice to have Rose replace Smith; that said, it largely doesn’t feel
like an amazing move for New York, but a decent move. Grade:
B-
Detroit
Pistons: Dennis Smith Jr., 2021 2nd
round pick
I am surprised that this was the best offer Detroit received;
I figured that the Clippers and Nets would fight for him harder. That said, it made sense to trade Rose before
his contract ran out. They got a pick
that could still net them a decent 2nd rounder. Smith might be worth a risk; he fell out of
New York’s rotation, but was the 9th pick in the 2017 draft who was
a 5-star recruit. After Killian Hayes
went down for the season, there seemed to be a gap at the position, so he’s worth
a shot if nothing else. Odds are good
that he will not be good with the Pistons, but he has the opportunity to prove
himself. Worst case scenario, he
continues to be a bust and they got a 2nd round pick. Best case scenario is Smith is a successful
reclamation project and they get the 2nd round pick. It’s worth a shot, but I’m slightly disappointed
with the return; those who have faith in Smith might rank this higher. Grade:
B
How do you think the NBA has handled the pandemic this season? What do you think about the Derrick Rose deal? Let me know in the comments!
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