Indiana Pacers guard Malcolm Brogdon says some NBA players are considering skipping the planned 22-team restart to the coronavirus-halted 2019-20 campaign in Orlando next month.
The NBA shut down in March due to the deadly virus outbreak but is expected to return in late July once final details are worked out between the league and the National Basketball Players Association.
Speaking on a podcast by New Orleans Pelicans guard J.J. Redick, union executive Brogdon cited several reasons why some players are having second thoughts, including coronavirus safety issues and concerns over isolation for weeks in the Florida “bubble” environment.
“I’ve talked to a few guys that are super interested in sitting out possibly,” Brogdon said. “I was actually talking to (Oklahoma City guard) Chris Paul the other day, and he said, ‘Man, this is an individual decision that every man has to make for himself.’
“And I think that’s exactly what it is. It depends on your perspective.”
Brogdon said that some players are concerned about going into quarantine for weeks as major changes in the black community are underway across the United States in the wake of George Floyd’s death while in police custody and the worldwide protests and social movements that followed.
Playing basketball when racism and police brutality concerns are high might not be a comfortable mix for some players, Brogdon said.
“Some guys are going to say, ‘For health reasons, and COVID, and the long-term effects that we don’t understand about COVID, I want to sit out,’” Brogdon said.