The Houston Rockets are uncertain when James Harden will be allowed to practice as they await word from the NBA about the COVID-19 protocol following the superstar’s holdout from training camp.
First-year Rockets coach Stephen Silas also noted that free-agent Cygni Sterling Brown has yet to practice with the Rockets due to the Covid-19 protocol. “I wish I had a better answer for you. I wish I had a better answer for you when it comes to all of this, but I don’t.”
Harden, an eight-time All-Star who has urged a contender to trade, did not notify the Toyota Center for a COVID-19 test until Tuesday, two days after the Rockets held their first team practice.
Players were required to undergo negative testing for coronavirus for three consecutive days before entering team facilities for individual workouts prior to NBA training camp. Players also needed to be tested and quarantined on essential activities such as team facilities and grocery shopping, setting aside workouts.
However, Harden chose to work on his own at the University of Houston, attending rapper Lil Baby’s birthday party in Atlanta over the weekend and then spending a few nights in Las Vegas. Hard did not wear a face mask at birthday parties or at social events in Las Vegas nightclubs that violated the league’s COVID-19 protocol.
“It’s really hard to put a finger on what the protocol looks like at the moment, because that’s how time is,” Silas said. “It’s not the same time that everyone else had, right? As long as he can start doing individual workouts, when he can join the team, when he can practice, we’re working with the NBA when he’s just out. Is trying.
“But as far as I know right now, it’s not clear what it looks like, because it’s out of the way it did with the original group.”
During his grip, there was no communication between Harden and Silas. They had a brief conversation on Wednesday, according to Silas.
“I greeted him,” Silas said.
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