Getty LeBron James with Rudy Gay.
LeBron James says he’ll be extra cautious with handshakes and high fives moving forward in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
“I ain’t high-fiving nobody for the rest of my life after this s—,” James said on the “Road Trippin” Podcast with Channing Frye, Richard Jefferson and Allie LaForce.
“No more high-fiving. After this corona s–t? Wait ’til you see me and my teammates’ handshakes after this s–t.”
James is joking, of course…well, kinda!
The NBA’s season like NCAA’s March Madness College Basketball tournament and Major League Baseball’s opening week has been put on hold since the outbreak of the coronavirus.
Fourteen individuals from seven different NBA teams have tested positive for the coronavirus.
The Utah Jazz’s Rudy Gobert was the first reported case in the NBA.
Gobert’s Jazz teammate, Donovan Mitchell also tested positive as has Brooklyn Nets forward, Kevin Durant tested postitive as has three other undisclosed players playing for Brooklyn.
Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart also announced that he tested positive.
The Lakers reportedly had two players test positive for COVID-19, while the Philadelphia 76ers have disclose that three members of the organization have the coronavirus, with all other test results coming back negative.
The Denver Nuggets announced one positive test result from their organization, and C bringing the NBA total to
While on the “Road Trippin” Podcast with Channing Frye, Richard Jefferson and Allie LaForce, LeBron James pondered the future of the game. “So what happens when a guy who is tested positive for corona and you’re out there on the floor with him and it’s a loose ball?” James said.
The Los Angeles Lakers point guard says he will begin conditioning on Monday despite the uncertainty of when the season will resume. “When you’ve been building six months of conditioning and preparation and then [it’s gone],” he said.
“The narrative that I don’t like [is], ‘Well, now guys get so much rest.’ Or, like, ‘LeBron, he’s 35, he’s got so many minutes on his body, now he gets so much rest,’” he said. “It’s actually the opposite for me because my body, when we stopped playing, was asking me, like, ‘What the hell are you doing?’”
James just wants to get back on the court. “What is the word ‘sport’ without ‘fan’?” he said on “Road Trippin” Podcast.
“There’s no excitement. There’s no crying. There’s no joy. There’s no back-and-forth.
“That’s what also brings out the competitive side of the players, to know that you’re going on the road in a hostile environment and, yes, you’re playing against that opponent in front of you, but you really want to kick the fans’ ass, too.
“So to get back on the floor, I would love it. I’m not going to sit here and say nothing. Like, if it’s get out there and get back on the floor five-on-five … but like, we can do that in scrimmages.
“Let’s just go to each other’s practice facility, put out a camera, just scrimmage and live stream it. … I just don’t know how we can imagine a sporting event without fans. It’s just, it’s a weird dynamic.”