The NBA postponed the Washington Wizards’ game against the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday due to the league’s health and safety protocols.
This was the sixth consecutive game of the Washington Wizards that has been postponed this season and also the 17th game overall.
Bradley Beal had revealed just hours before the postponement that they were “fighting the league” as they were playing the game with only eight available players. Six of their players had been sidelined by the league’s health and safety protocols.
“We weren’t able to get into a gym for a week,” Beal said on Wednesday night.
“That alters guys’ rhythm, shape — that is just like a recipe for injury, honestly. I think we are fighting the league on it,” he added.
Beal had also mentioned that he along with Russell Westbrook were planning to talk to the National Basketball Players Association Executive Director, Michele Roberts, regarding the options they had for staying safe.
The Shooting-guard also said that even though the Wizards wanted to stay injury-free, the players in the league were having mixed feelings about continuing play and making money while also keeping themselves and their family safe.
“We already have guys out with injury,” Beal said. “Now we have a huge chunk of our team, like over 50%, with the virus now … we hear from the league tonight, hear from them tomorrow and see what they want to do.”
Before the game got postponed, the Wizards had named the likes of listed Davis Bertans, Rui Hachimura, Deni Avdija, Troy Brown Jr., Ish Smith and Moritz Wagner as unavailable for the game due to the league’s health and safety protocols.
The players who were expected to be available for their game against the Bucks were Beal, Robin Lopez, Raul Neto, Garrison Mathews, Jerome Robinson, Isaac Bonga, Anthony Gill and Cassius Winston.
The Wizards’ coach said that the team were not able to practice on Wednesday evening. They were expected to practice on Thursday morning again with 15-16 hours between the two sessions, and then travel to Milwaukee as well. Beal and Brooks felt that such a short practice-time would have not only been disadvantageous for the the team but it would have also put the players under significant risk of injury.
“It is going to put us in a very difficult position to have a game Friday night,” Brooks said.
“If they make us play the game, obviously we have to play the game. I don’t know how we are going to be able to play it but we are going to do the best we can, whatever the league tells us what to do. I believe in the league.”
