The NHL is anti-NBA when it comes to coronavirus procedures.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 In many ways, the NHL followed the NBA when it came to stopping play, but one way they
00:08 didn't follow the NBA was in how they applied testing for the coronavirus.
00:13 For more on that, I'm joined by Alex Pruitt.
00:15 Now, Alex, the NBA caught a little backlash for how many of their players were tested.
00:19 Of course, some NHL players tested positive, but they have not gone through the arduous
00:25 testing process the NBA had.
00:27 Yeah, I think the key here is we're talking about asymptomatic players who are testing
00:32 positive, right?
00:33 You know, it was one thing when the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Utah Jazz were all sequestered
00:37 in their locker room and public health officials are ordering them to get tested because there
00:41 are fans in the building that the players have been traveling, that sort of thing.
00:44 But once everyone was recommended to self-quarantine and self-isolate like the leagues have been
00:48 doing, medical experts will say there's really no point in testing en masse or even really
00:54 testing young, fit, healthy professional athletes if they're showing a little bit of symptoms.
00:59 If you have underlying health conditions, a lung issue, a breathing issue, something
01:03 like that, then it certainly would behoove you if medical experts recommend to go get
01:07 a test.
01:08 But that's really the issue here is that teams like the Lakers, the Celtics, the Nets have
01:13 gotten tests and revealed that certain players tested positive for COVID even though they
01:18 were asymptomatic.
01:19 It's creating this image that they're cutting to the front of the line like other celebrities
01:23 have.
01:24 It's obviously become a hot button issue in the country as we're limited in testing.
01:28 The NHL, my understanding based on reporting and what people in the league have told me
01:32 is that their stance was pretty simple.
01:35 Don't test en masse.
01:36 That's what government officials both in Health Canada and the CDC are saying.
01:39 In the case of the Ottawa Senators with two players testing positive, they pretty much
01:44 funneled everything through the Canadian government because that's how health care works up there.
01:48 Here in the United States, the Colorado Avalanche had two players test positive.
01:51 I don't believe that any asymptomatic players have been tested throughout the league.
01:56 Even in Colorado, I think they had up to 10 days to wait before their test results came
02:00 back as a result of waiting in the public health care system to get tests.
02:05 Kind of a low bar, I guess, to do the socially responsible thing.
02:08 But I suppose kudos to the NHL for making that their policy.
02:12 The NBA would argue that they were following procedures as well.
02:15 I saw Michelle Roberts, the Players Association executive, blaming the federal government.
02:20 I think there have been a lot of positive tests within that community.
02:24 Is it fair to make them sort of the poster child for any improper response from the government
02:30 or a broken health care system or something like that?
02:33 Yeah.
02:34 It's also hard to say exactly what their mandated policy was and did teams skirt that.
02:41 It's one thing to understand it from a business perspective.
02:43 I had an NHL front office official tell me this.
02:47 You can read the rules and understand the mandate and all that.
02:50 But when one of your employees is symptomatic, then it becomes an entirely different ballgame.
02:54 So, again, I understand the business impulse to want to get all your players tested, if
03:00 only for peace of mind.
03:02 I think the kind of social good, the social awareness argument is overdue with this.
03:08 It's kind of long past its expiration date at this point.
03:10 Everyone pretty much knows the ballgame to stay inside, to self-distance, to social distance,
03:16 to self-quarantine.
03:17 I'm not sure that more players getting tested and being testing positive, even though they
03:23 were asymptomatic, is going to do much in the realm of social awareness here.
03:28 So, yeah, is it fair to hold up the NBA as kind of the villain in all this?
03:34 Maybe.
03:35 There are rich and powerful people around the country.
03:38 The owner of the New York Knicks, for instance, who were mildly to not symptomatic at all
03:42 and are getting tested and jumping to the front of the line.
03:44 This is not specifically a professional sports or an NBA issue, but it is a reminder, obviously,
03:51 of what we all have to do, how we all have to work together to ensure that the people
03:55 who are truly in need of tests get them and aren't passed over by other people just because
04:00 they have deep pockets.
04:02 Of course, it's a problem that goes well beyond sports at this point.
04:05 Alex, appreciate your time.
04:08 Thank you.
04:08 [BLANK_AUDIO]