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Miami Heat guard Avery Bradley spoke out for the first time since he contracted COVID-19 earlier this month. While appearing on Posted Up with Chris Haynes Podcast on January 25, the 30-year-old admitted that he was angry about catching coronavirus at work despite following every one of the NBA’s health and safety protocols.
Bradley was among eight Heat players sent home to quarantine after exposure to the coronavirus earlier in January.
The diagnosis was especially tough since Bradley, who spent last season playing with the Los Angeles Lakers, opted out of playing in the NBA bubble out of concern for his family’s health amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Bradley said on Monday, “To be honest, I was upset because I come to work and I do the right things, I come to work every single day and do all the protocols to make sure I’m protected so I can protect my family. To come up with the news knowing that I got it at work, I was a little frustrated to be honest. I was frustrated because I felt like it compromised my family’s safety.”
Posted Up w/ C. Haynes Pod: Heat’s Avery Bradley on testing positive for COVID-19, health & safety protocol process, return date, gift received from LAL, bond w/ Kyrie Irving & being on Lakers’ plane when Kobe Bryant died
Bradley’s main concern was for his wife, Ashley Bradley, and their three children, especially their eldest son, Liam, 7, who suffers from respiratory issues. After Bradley tested positive for COVID-19, the 6-foot-2 defensive star was relieved that he didn’t pass coronavirus on to his family.
“I felt a lot better knowing my family was safe and no one had it,” Bradley said. “My family got tested two times in a row to make sure they were fine. I was able to come home and be in our little guest area and see my kids and my wife through a window, which was frustrating.”
He told Haynes that he did have some symptoms and “the first few days were a little rough.”
Bradley Is Cleared to Start Playing on January 27 — but His No. 1 Focus Will Always Be His Family
GettyAvery Bradley #11 of the Miami Heat in December 2020.
The NBA tightened up its COVID-19 health and safety protocols four days after Bradley tested positive for the virus on January 9. After two weeks of being sidelined, Bradley will be cleared to return to the court on January 27, when the Heat take on the Denver Nuggets.
As for playing amid these stricter health and safety guidelines, “It’s tough,” Bradley admitted to Haynes on Posted Up:
We’re all making adjustments to this new normal way everyone has to live. It’s been frustrating not being able to get on the court and play for two weeks… My family is all I have and I’m all they have. So, I have to always make sure I’m protecting my family. That’s No. 1. I play this game for my family. I never want to get it confused. Basketball is something that I love, but I play for my family. I live for my family. They’re the most important thing.
Bam Adebayo Believe Bradley Can Be ‘First Team All-Defense’ This Season
One word to describe how much you enjoyed Avery Bradley’s debut?
While Bradley greatly enjoyed his time with the Celtics and has played with the Los Angeles Clippers, the Detroit Pistons and the Memphis Grizzlies, teammate Bam Adebayo says he’s in deep with the Heat.
Bradley signed with the Miami Heat in free agency on November 23, 2020, and it only took a few weeks for him to fit in with the franchise according to Adebayo.
“He’s a Heat guy,” Adebayo said. “You know that by looking at Avery and his reputation. But talking to Avery, he’s such a down-to-earth dude. He stresses himself out sometimes trying to do the right thing all the time and every time he steps out on the court. I can be a teammate with a guy like that.”
“He wants to win,” Adebayo continued. “He wants to figure out the best ways to put us in a position to win. He wants to guard whoever he has to, to give us a chance to win. I feel like he can be first-team All-Defense.”
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Miami Heat Guard Breaks Silence After Contracting COVID-19 at Work