Thunder’s Hill blasts league’s new restrictions

The rise of 16 new COVID-19 cases in the NBA since Jan. 6 is ample evidence that there are cracks in the system.

But few people are trumpeting their dissatisfaction like George Hill.

The outspoken Thunder point guard cried foul on the NBA’s latest restrictions for the next two weeks, the most notable of which is a restriction preventing players from leaving team hotels or having guests (which could include longtime friends or family members). Hill said he didn’t understand some of the rules, most specifically ones that keep teammates from socializing outside of game and practice settings.

The 34-year-old seemed to disagree most vehemently with guidelines restricting interactions with people not in his immediate household.

“I’m a grown man. I’m gonna do what I want to do,” Hill said Tuesday night. “If I want to go see my family; I’m going to go see my family,” Hill said. “They can’t tell me I have to stay in a room 24/7. If it’s that serious, then maybe we shouldn’t be playing.”

Hill played Wednesday night against the Lakers, with no apparent discipline from the Thunder or the NBA for comments that seemed to portend he might disregard some of the protocols.

The situation calls into question how the Lakers, who have not had any players miss games due to positive coronavirus tests so far (Alex Caruso missed five games due to contact tracing), can expect to keep their players and staff healthy and available when they could come into contact with people who are less adherent to the NBA protocols.

While in the NBA bubble, there was much less risk given widespread testing, and players (like Houston’s Danuel House) were quarantined for circumventing the guidelines.

The Lakers signaled Wednesday their intention to follow the new rules “to a T,” as coach Frank Vogel put it, but with games against other teams every other night with varying commitment, do they really have a chance?

When asked if other teams make him feel added anxiety about potentially thrusting his own team into more risk, Vogel said he tries not to focus on it.

“It just falls in the bucket of: control what you can control,” he said. “We want to be a team that adheres to the protocols better than the rest of the teams in the league. We want to be the best at that and give ourselves the best opportunity to have success on the court.

“And what other teams are doing, those things are out of our control and we don’t worry about that.”

Matthews, Dudley unavailable again

A 3-0 road trip didn’t feature any minutes from veterans Wesley Matthews or Jared Dudley, both of whom sat out the trip with a strained right Achilles and a sore right calf, respectively. Vogel said he didn’t believe either injury was serious, and an MRI to Matthews revealed only some swelling.

All-Star forward Anthony Davis played through a stubbed left toe after being listed as questionable early in the day.