Philadelphia 76ers teammates Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons were excluded from the NBA All-Star Game on Sunday after being identified by coronavirus contact detection, which again asked some players why the exhibit was being played during a pandemic.
The 76ers and the NBA inquired on Saturday night about the situation with Embiid and Simmons – which stems from the cut – and made the decision on Sunday morning that no one could play nine hours before the scheduled discount.
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The game in Atlanta continues as scheduled.
“This is just an unfortunate time in the world where our health and safety must be at the forefront,” All-Star Paul George of the Los Angeles Clippers said Sunday from Atlanta. “I personally did not agree with the game, but you know, that’s what it is.”
A person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press that Embiid and Simmons both tested negative for COVID-19, and that their barber tested positive for it. Both players had the barber a day or two before they flew to Atlanta, according to the person who spoke to the AP on Sunday because the details were not made public.
“It’s a little messy,” Washington All-Star Bradley Beal said. ‘That is a shame.’
Embiid would have been a starter for Team Durant, which will be coached by Doc Rivers of Philadelphia. Simmons would have been a reserve for Team LeBron. The NBA started in New Orleans’ Zion Williamson in place of Embiid and both teams will have 11 players on the active roster instead of the usual 12.
Embiid and Simmons are in Atlanta, although it was not immediately clear whether they would have to stay there and stay in quarantine, or that they could resume their All-Star vacation elsewhere.
“I would say it does not look good,” Rivers said Sunday morning when asked about the situation before the final decision on the status of Embiid and Simmons was made.
It is by no means a wonderful look.
A number of players – All-Star captain LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers – have openly wondered over the past few weeks why the game is being played. And the news from Sunday gave a reminder of why these problems seemed valid.
“It’s clear that I love our league very much and that I like to play basketball at the highest level and do what I want to do,” James said. ‘But I just think, under the circumstances and what we’re going through with the pandemic and everything with the season, I just thought we could look at it a little bit differently. … And I hate the fact that Joel and Ben will not be able to play today. ‘
The league and the National Basketball Players Association have continued with the plans for the game for several reasons, including because it will pay tribute to the historic black institutions and earn at least $ 3 million for scholarship funds that help black students.
“During this pandemic, we tried to find the right balance between the health and safety of our players, the community involved in NBA basketball production, and of course our fans, as well as the economic interests of our community. , “NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in his annual All-Star speech on Saturday. ‘Add to that issues of social justice. … Again, we feel we have found the right balance here, and look at the interests of everyone involved. ‘
The collective bargaining agreement between the league and its players also stipulates that the match must be played, and Silver has repeatedly said in recent weeks that millions of fans around the world want to see the match happen.
“I do not want to say that we did not have a choice, but it is in our CBA and our CBA says that there should be an All-Star Game every year,” Beal said. “There’s a lot of language out there that could get ugly if we didn’t necessarily come down with the All-Star Game. There are still guys reserved about it, I’m sure. That.”
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NBA 31 games have been postponed this season because at least one team will not have enough players to play due to virus-related reasons, including positive tests and contact detection.
In earlier cases where contact detection discovered a problem that was eventually confirmed as a positive case, players usually had to sit for a week. This means that Embiid and Simmons could possibly miss at least two games; Philadelphia, which holds the best record in the Eastern Conference, opens its second half with games Thursday in Chicago and Friday in Washington.
No other All-Stars or members of the 76ers’ coaching staff in Atlanta were affected because they were “not exposed to the individual in Philadelphia,” the NBA said.