Kelvin Kuo / Associated Press
Los Angeles Clippers guard Lou Williams will have to quarantine for 10 days before he is allowed to return to the NBA campus at the Walt Disney World Resort campus.
According to the New York Times‘Marc Stein, the quarantine went into effect on Saturday. As a result, Williams will miss the Clippers’ first two games of the NBA restart.
Ramona Shelburne and ESPN’s Bobby Marks reported Saturday that the league was investigating Williams by visiting the Magic City Gentlemen’s Club in Atlanta after receiving an excused absence to leave the NBA “bubble” in Orlando, Florida.
According to the report, Williams attended a presentation ceremony for the father of a close friend on Thursday and then traveled to Magic City for dinner.
Taylor Rooks @ @TaylorRooks
as someone from Georgia … I guess this is not the time for a dialogue about how good the food is in the magic city https://t.co/poEcw2gsAs
NBA health and safety protocol establishes a quarantine period of at least four days for players who leave and re-enter the “bubble”. Shelburne and Marks noted that the period may be extended upon the recommendation of infectious disease specialists.
Williams was the third Clippers player to leave the Disney campus. ESPN Malika Andrews reported that Patrick Beverley left due to “a personal emergency matter”, while Montrezl Harrell had a “family emergency” that required his presence, according to Ohm Youngmisuk from ESPN.
The combined absences of Beverley and Williams will leave Los Angeles with little hand in the backcourt. However, it may not mean too much in the grand scheme of things, assuming both players return early on the restart.
The Clippers are 5.5 games away from the Los Angeles Lakers, and closing that gap in just eight qualifying games was always going to be difficult. Holding on to the second seed will be a higher priority for LA, which has a 1.5-game cushion at the Utah Jazz.
And the timing of Williams’ return would leave him with plenty of time to return to a comfort zone before the playoffs.
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