Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James made headlines this past week when he attended an event for his tequila company Lobos 1707 along with Drake, Michael B. Jordan and others just before the start of the postseason.
It was reported that James was in violation of the league’s health and safety protocols, although no suspension or quarantine was handed out to the dismay of many and he was available for the Lakers’ Game 1 against the Phoenix Suns on Sunday afternoon.
NBA Chief Communications Officer Mike Bass then put out a statement on Monday afternoon explaining why he wasn’t forced to quarantine.
“To clarify any remaining misconception, LeBron James briefly attended an outdoor event last week where participants were required to be vaccinated or return a negative test result. Under these circumstances and in consultation with medical experts, it was determined that his attendance did not create risks related to the spread of COVID-19 and therefore no quarantine was necessary. Over the course of this season, there have been numerous similar violations of the league’s Health and Safety Protocols, which were addressed with the player’s team in a similar fashion. Under current NBA rules, vaccinated players are permitted to engage in outside activities including their individual commercial arrangements, such as sponsor appearances or ad shoots.”
James did not have any comment on the event after Sunday’s loss to the Suns, simply stating that he would be ready for Game 2 on Tuesday evening.
As said in the statement though, James is not the first one to be in a situation like this and not be forced to quarantine.
James has previously declined to reveal if he is vaccinated or not, so it’s hard to say how much that did or didn’t play a role in this incident.
Vogel had ‘no reaction’ to James breaking protocols
When asked about his star player under fire, Lakers head coach Frank Vogel says he didn’t have a problem with James attending the event and added that the team has reached the 85% vaccination threshold that will allow them to participate in more activities as a team while on the road.
“I had no reaction to it,” Vogel said before Sunday’s game. “He knows what he’s doing. We trust in his decision-making. All we did in terms of talking to our guys about it was just reminding them that as of Monday we expect to be a fully vaccinated team at 85 percent. Just reminding them of what the rules look like. We can eat outdoors, we can eat indoors. Those types of things.”
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