Lakers: Party with Drake won’t keep LeBron off the court
James has been cleared to play for the Lakers in the first round of the NBA playoffs despite violating the league’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols by attending a promotional event for his tequila company, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports.
Before taking the court Wednesday for the play-in game against the Golden State Warriors, the four-time champion partied with rapper Drake and actor Michael B. Jordan at an outdoor photo shoot to promote James’s Lobos 1707 tequila. Attendees had to show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test to participate, but the NBA said the event still violated its rules.
“It’s a violation of the agreedupon protocols, and, as we have in other comparable instances around the league, it has been addressed with the team,” a representative for the league told ESPN.
Drake and Jordan were courtside as James made the gamewinning three-point shot to beat the Warriors and send the Lakers into a first-round series against the Suns.
Several other players have had to face the consequences of violating protocols, including James’s teammate Dennis Schroder, who’s had to sit out twice because of contact tracing.
Nets forward Kevin Durant was removed from a game in February because he had come into contact with someone who tested positive for the virus. He was also among the players who contracted COVID-19 when the league was shut down last year.
For his part, James didn’t seem fazed by the investigation as he posted his viral salsa dance on social media and expressed excitement at Ja Morant leading the Grizzlies past the Warriors, and Simone Biles becoming the first woman to land the Yurchenko double pike vault.
The Lakers play the Suns in Game 1 in Phoenix on Sunday.