Why Didn’t The Celts Take Covid More Seriously?

[uconnceltic]

The Celtics led the NBA in one category this season: Games lost by players due to to Covid-19 precautions and infections. And teams around the league seemingly noticed. During a recent segment on NBC Sports Boston (captured by OMF), longtime NBA reporter Chris Mannix revealed the Washington Wizards went as far as to complain to the league office about the behavior of some Celtics players. Washington endured one of the worst Covid-19 outbreaks all season, with seven players testing positive for the virus over a four-day period in mid-January. The Wizards played the Celtics Jan. 8, and apparently blamed them. – via Audacy

“The Celtics were among the teams that I know of that didn’t take Covid seriously,” Mannix said. “They continued to go out on the road, and would find ways to skirt the rules at times when they were traveling. They didn’t take these protocols seriously — not as seriously as some other teams did. Washington, when they had all of their Covid issues back in January and early February, they blamed Boston. They complained to the league that the Celtics, because of what they had heard about players going out in Florida I believe it was, they believed they contracted their issues through the Celtics.” – via Audacy

“Most of the league knew what was going on with the Celtics, and how they weren’t really taking these Covid protocols seriously,” Mannix said. – via Audacy

I also remember seeing that the Celtics were among the worst teams in terms of percentage of players who were vaccinated.

Why risk your career / life with this?  Why didn’t management more tightly enforce protocols?

Smart, Tatum, Fournier, and Thompson all got the virus.  Tatum still has side effects.  These guys are millionaires with access to the best doctors in the world.  Why be so reckless?  And again, why weren’t they confined to their hotels?

Please deadly for those seniors and those with underlying health issues. Read the science, drama queen

[blink]

The Celtics led the NBA in one category this season: Games lost by players due to to Covid-19 precautions and infections. And teams around the league seemingly noticed. During a recent segment on NBC Sports Boston (captured by OMF), longtime NBA reporter Chris Mannix revealed the Washington Wizards went as far as to complain to the league office about the behavior of some Celtics players. Washington endured one of the worst Covid-19 outbreaks all season, with seven players testing positive for the virus over a four-day period in mid-January. The Wizards played the Celtics Jan. 8, and apparently blamed them. – via Audacy

“The Celtics were among the teams that I know of that didn’t take Covid seriously,” Mannix said. “They continued to go out on the road, and would find ways to skirt the rules at times when they were traveling. They didn’t take these protocols seriously — not as seriously as some other teams did. Washington, when they had all of their Covid issues back in January and early February, they blamed Boston. They complained to the league that the Celtics, because of what they had heard about players going out in Florida I believe it was, they believed they contracted their issues through the Celtics.” – via Audacy

“Most of the league knew what was going on with the Celtics, and how they weren’t really taking these Covid protocols seriously,” Mannix said. – via Audacy

I also remember seeing that the Celtics were among the worst teams in terms of percentage of players who were vaccinated.

Why risk your career / life with this?  Why didn’t management more tightly enforce protocols?

Smart, Tatum, Fournier, and Thompson all got the virus.  Tatum still has side effects.  These guys are millionaires with access to the best doctors in the world.  Why be so reckless?  And again, why weren’t they confined to their hotels?

Please deadly for those seniors and those with underlying health issues. Read the science, drama queen

This has to be one of the dumbest comments I have seen for a while here on Celticsblog.  600,000+ dead and you are calling Roy a drama queen.  That is ridiculous. 

[LilRip]

It’s really mystifying to see people maintaining a stance on covid not really being a big deal.

Anyway, this is a disappointing read tho. And it’s not just the players, I bet. I imagine the coaching staff, front office, etc all had the same attitude.

[gouki88]

The Celtics led the NBA in one category this season: Games lost by players due to to Covid-19 precautions and infections. And teams around the league seemingly noticed. During a recent segment on NBC Sports Boston (captured by OMF), longtime NBA reporter Chris Mannix revealed the Washington Wizards went as far as to complain to the league office about the behavior of some Celtics players. Washington endured one of the worst Covid-19 outbreaks all season, with seven players testing positive for the virus over a four-day period in mid-January. The Wizards played the Celtics Jan. 8, and apparently blamed them. – via Audacy

“The Celtics were among the teams that I know of that didn’t take Covid seriously,” Mannix said. “They continued to go out on the road, and would find ways to skirt the rules at times when they were traveling. They didn’t take these protocols seriously — not as seriously as some other teams did. Washington, when they had all of their Covid issues back in January and early February, they blamed Boston. They complained to the league that the Celtics, because of what they had heard about players going out in Florida I believe it was, they believed they contracted their issues through the Celtics.” – via Audacy

“Most of the league knew what was going on with the Celtics, and how they weren’t really taking these Covid protocols seriously,” Mannix said. – via Audacy

I also remember seeing that the Celtics were among the worst teams in terms of percentage of players who were vaccinated.

Why risk your career / life with this?  Why didn’t management more tightly enforce protocols?

Smart, Tatum, Fournier, and Thompson all got the virus.  Tatum still has side effects.  These guys are millionaires with access to the best doctors in the world.  Why be so reckless?  And again, why weren’t they confined to their hotels?

Please deadly for those seniors and those with underlying health issues. Read the science, drama queen

Embarrassing post, you should be genuinely ashamed of yourself. People like you are the reason your country lost over half a million people.

In regards to the OP, it reeks of a lack of leadership at every level. FO, coaching and playing. Danny didn't seem to be as forward-thinking as some other GMs, Brad's voice was probably not being heard very much, and we all know about our locker dysfunction.

[Kiorrik]

If I didn't have this many friends in the States, I'd find it super hilarious to see people say "vaccine bad", "govt can't tell me what to do" and "only old people die of it".

It's legit like a dark comedy. 1 in 550 dead and it's still "not muh problem".

A literal super-human athlete, top 25 best basketball players in the WORLD, had a bout with it and says he's still on medication afterwards. The team we root for too. Imagine what it would've done to anyone else. Someone that doesn't have access to his type of medical support?

It's insane. For a country that's all about "look at how great we are", there sure are a lot of people that don't give a crap about their fellow countrymen.

Again. I'd laugh, because it's such a farce, so surreal and actually the pinnacle of ironic humour ... but too many friends have lost family to this disease. So it's just sad.

As for the Celtics; yeh. That makes me hella less proud of being a fan. Hope they've learned and are stepping up their game with this. This lackadaisical attitude does not become of the premier franchise. It's not how you want to be known.

[Hoopvortex]

The Celtics led the NBA in one category this season: Games lost by players due to to Covid-19 precautions and infections. And teams around the league seemingly noticed. During a recent segment on NBC Sports Boston (captured by OMF), longtime NBA reporter Chris Mannix revealed the Washington Wizards went as far as to complain to the league office about the behavior of some Celtics players. Washington endured one of the worst Covid-19 outbreaks all season, with seven players testing positive for the virus over a four-day period in mid-January. The Wizards played the Celtics Jan. 8, and apparently blamed them. – via Audacy

“The Celtics were among the teams that I know of that didn’t take Covid seriously,” Mannix said. “They continued to go out on the road, and would find ways to skirt the rules at times when they were traveling. They didn’t take these protocols seriously — not as seriously as some other teams did. Washington, when they had all of their Covid issues back in January and early February, they blamed Boston. They complained to the league that the Celtics, because of what they had heard about players going out in Florida I believe it was, they believed they contracted their issues through the Celtics.” – via Audacy

“Most of the league knew what was going on with the Celtics, and how they weren’t really taking these Covid protocols seriously,” Mannix said. – via Audacy

I also remember seeing that the Celtics were among the worst teams in terms of percentage of players who were vaccinated.

Why risk your career / life with this?  Why didn’t management more tightly enforce protocols?

Smart, Tatum, Fournier, and Thompson all got the virus.  Tatum still has side effects.  These guys are millionaires with access to the best doctors in the world.  Why be so reckless?  And again, why weren’t they confined to their hotels?

I'm not interested in assigning blame, but I will claim that Tatum's COVID affected him on defense even after his shooting and scoring came back; I guess that's not surprising since he was using an inhaler during timeouts to open up his airway.

Add that to all the injuries and it may be unsurprising that Boston never got close to the team defense they had had the previous season.

This was a snakebit year, but some at least appears to have been preventable.

I have an NFL client who had COVID last year. After recovery he went through the whole season with diminished stamina.

[Kiorrik]

The Celtics led the NBA in one category this season: Games lost by players due to to Covid-19 precautions and infections. And teams around the league seemingly noticed. During a recent segment on NBC Sports Boston (captured by OMF), longtime NBA reporter Chris Mannix revealed the Washington Wizards went as far as to complain to the league office about the behavior of some Celtics players. Washington endured one of the worst Covid-19 outbreaks all season, with seven players testing positive for the virus over a four-day period in mid-January. The Wizards played the Celtics Jan. 8, and apparently blamed them. – via Audacy

“The Celtics were among the teams that I know of that didn’t take Covid seriously,” Mannix said. “They continued to go out on the road, and would find ways to skirt the rules at times when they were traveling. They didn’t take these protocols seriously — not as seriously as some other teams did. Washington, when they had all of their Covid issues back in January and early February, they blamed Boston. They complained to the league that the Celtics, because of what they had heard about players going out in Florida I believe it was, they believed they contracted their issues through the Celtics.” – via Audacy

“Most of the league knew what was going on with the Celtics, and how they weren’t really taking these Covid protocols seriously,” Mannix said. – via Audacy

I also remember seeing that the Celtics were among the worst teams in terms of percentage of players who were vaccinated.

Why risk your career / life with this?  Why didn’t management more tightly enforce protocols?

Smart, Tatum, Fournier, and Thompson all got the virus.  Tatum still has side effects.  These guys are millionaires with access to the best doctors in the world.  Why be so reckless?  And again, why weren’t they confined to their hotels?

I'm not interested in assigning blame, but I will claim that Tatum's COVID affected him on defense even after his shooting and scoring came back; I guess that's not surprising since he was using an inhaler during timeouts to open up his airway.

Add that to all the injuries and it may be unsurprising that Boston never got close to the team defense they had had the previous season.

This was a snakebit year, but some at least appears to have been preventable.

I have an NFL client who had COVID last year. After recovery he went through the whole season with diminished stamina.

I'm also pretty sure there's a reason we see him bring the ball up on the very edge of the 16 second shot clock mark so very often.

[Hoopvortex]

Most of players who aren’t vaxd have had it so no need. 

OP mentioned risking their life- come on!  They had a better chance of dying driving to stadium than COVID.  Talk about fear mongering.    We know the stats- 20-30 years don’t die from COVID.

You don't have to die to be injured and have your performance affected, as Jayson Tatum found out.

But beyond that an infected 20-year old is a risk to the people around him. NBA players ought to have been acutely aware of this, as Karl-Anthony Towns' mother died of COVID last year.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

Over on CelticsBlog, towards the end of the season, I stated that there must have been some amount of irresponsibility going on with the team, since Boston far and away led the league in covid-related missed games, and I was vilified by several people for "pointing fingers" and "playing the blame game" when it was really "just bad luck for Boston."

I still maintain that there was a good deal of irresponsibility going on, and I think the numbers bear this out:

• Boston lost 157 player-days due to covid-19
• The "second-place" team in this category was the Dallas Mavericks with 118, which is high but still a good ways behind Boston.
• The league average was 55.3, so Boston's total was nearly 200% greater than the league average.

And that's all, or even mostly, "just bad luck"? No, I don't think so.

[GreenlyGreeny]

Over on CelticsBlog, towards the end of the season, I stated that there must have been some amount of irresponsibility going on with the team, since Boston far and away led the league in covid-related missed games, and I was vilified by several people for "pointing fingers" and "playing the blame game" when it was really "just bad luck for Boston."

I still maintain that there was a good deal of irresponsibility going on, and I think the numbers bear this out:

• Boston lost 157 player-days due to covid-19
• The "second-place" team in this category was the Dallas Mavericks with 118, which is high but still a good ways behind Boston.
• The league average was 55.3, so Boston's total was nearly 200% greater than the league average.

And that's all, or even mostly, "just bad luck"? No, I don't think so.

This. Tone at the top matters. Undoubtedly Ainge did not take this seriously which is why most nobody else did, too. It’s not like Boston was the COVID-19 hotspot of the nation…

[LilRip]

If I didn't have this many friends in the States, I'd find it super hilarious to see people say "vaccine bad", "govt can't tell me what to do" and "only old people die of it".

It's legit like a dark comedy. 1 in 550 dead and it's still "not muh problem".

A literal super-human athlete, top 25 best basketball players in the WORLD, had a bout with it and says he's still on medication afterwards. The team we root for too. Imagine what it would've done to anyone else. Someone that doesn't have access to his type of medical support?

It's insane. For a country that's all about "look at how great we are", there sure are a lot of people that don't give a crap about their fellow countrymen.

Again. I'd laugh, because it's such a farce, so surreal and actually the pinnacle of ironic humour ... but too many friends have lost family to this disease. So it's just sad.

As for the Celtics; yeh. That makes me hella less proud of being a fan. Hope they've learned and are stepping up their game with this. This lackadaisical attitude does not become of the premier franchise. It's not how you want to be known.

TP

[rogueandpoet]

What a load. Spread some rumors and see if any fool bites. Handling covid has been a mess for everyone. Who did it right? Who knows and who gives a [dang] and who goes around finger pointing in hindsight. Well maybe "Karen" does.

[Bobshot]

Covid was made political. That's one reason. Trump was all over the map on it, even after he got Covid. We didn't get any vaccine in my county until two months after Biden took over.
I don't know if it was political in any other country. Politics are just all screwed up here. Flu shots never used to be political, for heaven sake.

The other reason is some people  never get flu shots. They consider it an impingement on their "freedom"  or they are afraid of reactions. Afraid of medicine, really.The freedom bit was told to me by my chiropractor's assistant. Christian Scientists don't take any prescribed medicine.  We have such a friend who got shots only because you can't travel unless you have gotten shots.

As for the Celtics, it looks like there was a lack of leadership on the subject. In my view, every player in a major TV sport should have gotten shots. I'm surprised there wasn't a mandate, considering all the money involved.

[kraidstar]

Covid was made political. That's one reason. Trump was all over the map on it, even after he got Covid. We didn't get any vaccine in my county until two months after Biden took over.
I don't know if it was political in any other country. Politics are just all screwed up here. Flu shots never used to be political, for heaven sake.

The other reason is some people  never get flu shots. They consider it an impingement on their "freedom"  or they are afraid of reactions. Afraid of medicine, really.The freedom bit was told to me by my chiropractor's assistant. Christian Scientists don't take any prescribed medicine.  We have such a friend who got shots only because you can't travel unless you have gotten shots.

As for the Celtics, it looks like there was a lack of leadership on the subject. In my view, every player in a major TV sport should have gotten shots. I'm surprised there wasn't a mandate, considering all the money involved.

You ever hear about the opioid epidemic? I know people who died as a result of those corporate drug-pushers. Nobody was really held accountable for that. There are reasons to be skeptical when corporations say something is safe. Big Business is not your friend and will get away with everything they can. And government watchdog agencies are run by a lot of the same people in said Big Business. It is very incestuous. Just look at the videos of kids being sprayed by firehoses full of deet.

The problem of course is when reasonable, informed suspicion becomes unfounded, Alex Jones-style paranoia. But there is such a thing as healthy skepticism.

[angryguy77]

Most of players who aren’t vaxd have had it so no need. 

OP mentioned risking their life- come on!  They had a better chance of dying driving to stadium than COVID.  Talk about fear mongering.    We know the stats- 20-30 years don’t die from COVID.

All the lost time to covid just meant we were going to exit the playoffs with a better reg season record.
weird you don't see teams get chastised when the everyday flu makes its rounds and cost players some games.