N.Y. Mayor Bill de Blasio has been critical of NBA teams getting tested with cities being hit hard by the virusGETTY IMAGES
The NBA has "become a reflection of some of this country's political strife" related to the coronavirus pandemic due to the number of testing kits to which teams and league members have had access, according to ESPN's Rachel Nichols ("The Jump," ESPN, 3/19). In DC, Eilperin & Golliver write the testing experience of Jazz C Rudy Gobert and others "illustrates how NBA players have advantages not available to the general public, including the resources to pay for private testing and medical professionals on hand to advise and guide their decisions" (WASHINGTON POST, 3/20). USA TODAY's Dan Wolken writes teams "aren’t doing anything illegal or unethical by getting tests for their players and personnel through private labs." However, asymptomatic NBA players cutting the line for tests is an "undeniably poor look for the league while stories are pouring out of hospitals every day in this country of medical personnel with symptoms going to work while unable to procure tests for themselves." The league "should be very careful about everything it does as this unprecedented national health crisis rages on" (USA TODAY, 3/20).
SEEING BOTH SIDES: In Miami, Greg Cote writes people should not "demonize either side" in relation to coronavirus testing for NBA teams. N.Y. Mayor Bill de Blasio "makes an undeniably legitimate point" about being upset the Nets were tested while his city is "increasingly hard hit by the coronavirus and the shortage of testing." However, it also "seems harsh to fault the NBA or anybody else for trying to do whatever it can to protect itself" (MIAMI HERALD, 3/20). In L.A., LZ Granderson writes all of this "'non-preferential' testing for millionaires and their associates against the backdrop of a national testing shortfall for ordinary citizens looks foul and smells even worse." In the midst of this public health crisis, it is "hard to watch NBA teams, and the privileged at large, gain access to otherwise elusive tests and not wonder if the rest of us are minor characters in a dystopian movie" (L.A. TIMES, 3/20). In San Antonio, Mike Finger writes the topic of why so many Americans have faced difficulties getting tests while full NBA teams have been able to secure them "deserves a better answer than either the league or the government has provided so far" (SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS, 3/20).
INSIDER'S PERSPECTIVE: In California, Kyle Goon notes Lakers G Danny Green during an appearance on "The Full 48 with Howard Beck" podcast confirmed a report that players had "received access to tests but were not required to use them right away." When most of the team "finally did get tested on Wednesday via long nose and throat swabs, he acknowledged it was an unpopular procedure." Green said, "A lot of guys did not like it. I wouldn't say it hurt, but it was very uncomfortable, I'll tell you that" (ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, 3/20). ESPN.com's Ramona Shelburne wrote under the header, "How The NBA Moved So Quickly On Coronavirus Testing" (ESPN.com, 3/19).
