After enduring a long and complicated COVID-19 nightmare in 2020, the virus has returned to the NBA this season with intense force.
With people getting sick and missing time all over the place, the league has been trying its best to keep everyone safe and keep the season alive.
Of course, that doesn’t mean it has been easygoing for every team.
In Brooklyn, the Nets are missing an astronomical portion of their roster due to health and safety protocols. In a recent Instagram Live session, Austin Rivers described what it was like playing against such a shorthanded Nets team.
Austin Rivers on his IG live right now: "You should've seen the Nets team that we were playing tonight. Patty Mills, Blake Griffin, Cam Thomas were the only ones we knew."
— Mike Singer (@msinger) December 19, 2021
Rivers continued: "We had to do a whole new scouting report … They're saying names that … I didn't even know who I was guarding." https://t.co/Kppp0ycnmF
— Mike Singer (@msinger) December 19, 2021
Austin Rivers on his IG live, with how the league is trending:
"You bout to see 6-foot-8 ******* in cubicles. Guys gonna have real jobs."
🤣🤣
— Mike Singer (@msinger) December 19, 2021
With Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Kyrie Irving, the Brooklyn Nets have one of the best rosters in the entire NBA. Entering this season, they had title aspirations.
Unfortunately, the COVID crisis has hit them hard, and they have yet to play at full strength all season long.
Speaking to reporters earlier this month, Blake Griffin described what the situation was like on the inside.
“It’s almost like you get pulled out of class and everybody’s kinda like ‘ooooh,’ ” Griffin said. “It’s just crazy man I don’t know how to like really describe it. I feel like you just walk n the locker room you just kinda look at everybody you just laugh.”
It’s never easy for players to adjust to such drastic and sudden lineup changes. Somehow, the Nets have held their own through it all, going 21-9 through their first 30 games. They hold the top spot in the East.
But if Brooklyn is aiming for a strong finish in the postseason, the NBA is going to have to avoid a total shutdown. With cases rising and many players already missing time, that task is proving difficult.
We will see eventually how it all plays out, but there is no denying how bizarre and taboo this whole situation is for the NBA.
