Los Angeles – Los Angeles Lakers star, LeBron James, Violated NBA health and safety protocols this week, a league spokesperson told ESPN Friday night.
Sources told ESPN, Adrian Wojnarowski, that James’s work will not be suspended, as the nature of the event has not reached the level of threatening the spread of the virus.
James was one of several high-profile guests attending a promotional event for the Tequila brand he agreed to earlier this week ahead of the Lakers’ match against the Golden State Warriors.
Tequila was presented in a short outdoor photo shoot, and guests, including artist Drake and actor Michael P. Jordan, had to provide evidence of vaccination or a recent negative test result in order to attend.
Even with these measures, James, who refused to disclose whether he had received the COVID-19 vaccine, was violating the league’s health and safety protocols.
“It is a violation of the agreed protocols, and as we have done in other similar cases in the league, it has been addressed with the team,” a league spokesman told ESPN on Friday.
According to league protocols, players who do not follow the rules are subject to warnings, fines, or suspensions. Players who frequently break the rules may be subject to stricter discipline.
No. 7 seed James Lakers will play No. 2 Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference in the first match of the series first round on Sunday (3:30 pm EDT, ESPN Sports).
Despite being the lowest seeded, Los Angeles is in a six-game winning streak heading into the series against the Suns, with James returning to the field for his final three wins after missing 26 of the Lakers’ 28 matches. Before that due to ankle injury injury.
Several weeks ago, James clarified his thinking behind stopping overtime, saying, “At the end of the day, if I’m not 100% or nearly 100%, it doesn’t matter where we get. [ en la clasificación]”.
With this logic in mind, a reporter asked James on Friday whether the consequences of being placed in the league’s health and safety protocols during the qualifiers (likely not available to your teammates for a period of 10-14 days) affected your decision to seek the vaccine.
“Whatever I do outside of court is up to my family,” James said, “for the majority, 99.9% of that.” “So it comes down to the health and safety of my family, and it’s really due to that.
“Being available to my teammates on the field is taking care of my body. I do everything I can to make sure that I am available mentally, physically and spiritually as well. But anything like that, that’s all in the family.”
When the reporter asked James directly if he had received the vaccine, he replied, “It’s not a big problem,” laughing for a while after giving his answer.
The vague answer was consistent with what James said during the All-Star weekend when he was first asked about his plans for a vaccine.
In March, he said, “This is a conversation my family and I will have.” “I’ll keep it private.”
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