An anonymous NBA executive believes that Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James is getting preferential treatment after violating NBA health and safety protocols regarding COVID-19.
A. Sherrod Blakely of Bleacher Report looked at the issue of preferential treatment for James by citing an unnamed Eastern Conference executive.
“It’s a given that LeBron, because of who he is, is going to get some things to go his way that don’t go that way for others,” said the executive. “The thing that I struggle with understanding is the whole point of having all these health protocols is to keep players safe, right? Why are there layers to this? If you spell out the rules and the players violate them, why would you (then) risk exposing them to their teammates?”
James was not forced to sit out any period of time after attending a public event, with people such as Charles Barkley criticizing the NBA’s apparent unwillingness to discipline James for the violation.
The issue of preferential treatment became magnified when the Dallas Mavericks’ Kristaps Porzingis was fined for his protocol violation, which led the NBA to issue a statement on the alleged disparity.
James, who has yet to definitively say whether or not he’s received the COVID-19 vaccine, had only recently returned from injuries when the controversy began.
Without James in the lineup, the Lakers have little or no shot at defending their NBA title. That issue is part of the reason why such theories about James’ treatment by the league may linger.
