Lakers: Anthony Davis Addresses LeBron James COVID Situation
LeBron James had initially traveled with the team for their one game road trip up in Sacramento to play the Kings. It was not reported until late afternoon, that James had entered health and safety protocols—codename for COVID—and would likely miss the next ten days.
After the win against the Kings, Anthony Davis talked about when he initially heard about James being tested for the possibility of contracting COVID.
“It was something that was unexpected for sure. Found out this morning. [LeBron] did more testing, and we didn’t even hear anything afterwards. Woke up from a nap, and then any media outlet that covers anything had it on, and said he was in the health and safety protocols.”
Obviously, this is unfortunate, as the team had started to look like they were finally getting closer to full strength. The sooner the core of the team can play more minutes together, the flow and consistency should follow.
Anthony Davis detailed his conversation with James and was told from James that he felt good.
“I talked to him today. Obviously, me and LB are close and I checked on him. Just hearing what Joel Embiid said—obviously [Embiid] was scared. He said that he thought he wasn’t going to make it. COVID is a scary thing…It’s a scary situation.
He said he’s asymptomatic, which is a good sign, but we want to make sure that he gets back. Health is what’s most important. It’s bigger than basketball. He has a family and we want to make sure that he’s good no matter what. Like this basketball thing don’t stop. We want to make sure his health is what’s most important, especially for our organization. He’s part of our family and we want to make sure he’s good. For his sake, for his family’s sake. He seemed to be fine, but I know he’s watching basketball and he’s excited, so the win probably helped him fight this off as well.”
James may be asymptomatic, but the other concern that the team is probably wondering is if more players on the team may be testing positive the next couple of days. Publicly, it is not known when James contracted COVID, nor is it known how close in proximity James has been with his teammates after the virus entered his body. The good thing is the Lakers only play twice this week, so James likely will not be out too many games hopefully, but this is something that is worth monitoring in the coming days.
