Short-handed Heat gets another shot at Sixers
Heat players Duncan Robinson and Tyler Herro will be available in Philadelphia despite some confusion surrounding the NBA’s COVID-19 pandemic protocols. Robinson wonders if other teams are putting forth the same effort to follow those rules.
During one of the more unique weeks in Heat history, with nearly half the players back in South Florida dealing with the NBA’s COVID protocols and the other half soldiering on for two games in Philadel
phia, Heat players sometimes don’t know if they’re coming or going.
Tyler Herro thought he was going — specifically, back to Miami when he boarded the bus with several other teammates Sunday night in Boston, part of a contingent returning to South Florida after being deemed to be in close contact with Avery Bradley, the Heat player who tested positive for COVID-19.
Then Herro suddenly was yanked off the bus and told he would instead accompany the team to Philadelphia for two games this week.
The NBA’s formula to determine which players are deemed close contacts is so nuanced, so complicated, that sometimes there’s simply no clear-cut answer.
“I was on the bus to go back to Miami and then they, at the last seconds, told me I was actually clear and
able to stay here with the team,” Herro said. “So I was packed and ready to go back to Miami. And last second they told me I could stay.”
The whole experience of traveling between cities and through a pandemic — particularly the tumultuous past few days when Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, Goran Dragic and five others were sent back to Miami — has created a mix of emotions among Heat players.
“The frustrating part,” Duncan Robinson said, “would be from an organizational standpoint we take this really, really seriously. Everybody is doing their job to make sure masks are on and distance is maintained. For this to really work, everybody has to be on the same board, not just the Miami Heat. That’s where the frustration comes in the most is the sacrifices we are all making, we don’t feel others are going through the same level of effort.”
Robinson — whose team plays in Philadelphia at 7 p.m. Thursday after losing 137-134 in overtime to the 76ers on Tuesday — said this week has been “unlike anything I‘ve experienced in this league. It’s been bizarre to say the least. The uncertainty of everything, who’s with us, who’s not. We didn’t even have a chance to do a walkthrough [Tuesday before the game]. We all decided to stay in our rooms.”
The Heat likely will have eight players available again Thursday; center Meyers Leonard is doubtful with a shoulder injury. Eight other players remain in South Florida in COVID protocol. Philadelphia could get back Tobias Harris and Shake Milton, who are probable.
Has Robinson asked himself, “What the heck are we doing” playing this season?
Robinson responded:
“It’s not so much why, but more so how? How is this going to come together? What do we and everybody need to do to make sure it gets executed?
“The why is we all love to play. It’s a privilege to play in this league whether there are fans here or not, or whatever the circumstances are. Particularly this group, we love to play. We want to be safe first and foremost. But we want to figure out how we can do it. Recently, the biggest thing we’ve struggled with is uncertainty: are we playing, who’s in, who’s out, what’s this protocol, what’s that protocol?”
The situation with Herro — where he was put on the bus to head back to Miami and then yanked off — reflects that contact tracing isn’t always black and white.
The NBA follows CDC guidance, which defines close contacts as any individual who has been within six feet of an infected person for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period starting from two days before illness onset for symptomatic individuals or two days before the positive test was conducted for asymptomatic individuals.
But there are multiple factors that determine whether somebody is a close contact, such as location of interaction, whether the infected person was symptomatic during the interaction and whether masks were worn.
Players are interviewed as part of the process, and the NBA recently began requiring players, coaches and some team staff to wear Kinexon SafeZone contact sensor devices during all team-organized activities outside of games, including practices. The sensor activates when someone is within six feet of another person wearing one, and the device records the distance and duration of in-person interactions.
“There’s some common sense involved,” Robinson said of the vagaries of contact tracing. “Sometimes it’s just clear — this person was next to this person so they should be out. It doesn’t always seem to work that way. I just try to show up and play and have trust that the league and this organization will protect us. I know they’re going to great lengths to do so.”
What’s more, players have now been told not to leave their hotels on the road except to go to the arena. And for at least the next two weeks, players must remain at their residences when in their home market, except for team activities or other essential activities. Pregame meetings in the locker room for the next two weeks will be limited to 10 minutes.
“It’s a crazy time we’re living in,” Herro said. “I don’t think there’s any perfect scenario for anybody. The [Disney] bubble was fun and a great experience but I don’t think a lot of guys would do the bubble again. It takes away a lot away from having your freedom and being away and having time to spend with family and friends. We’re all trying to stay positive.”