As the NBA gets closer to resuming its season on July 30th, all 22 teams involved are at the Walt Disney World campus. Of course, some players have taken to Instagram and Twitter to post pictures or videos about the hotels they are staying at or the food they were getting during the time they were quarantined in their rooms.
Now, it is important to note that not every player is complaining about the conditions and it is probably tough for people to see these videos given what has happened to many families during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
On Sunday night, ESPN basketball analyst Jay Williams took to Twitter to post this video and gave some comments to the players who were complaining about the conditions:
“NBA players cannot be tone deaf. My NBA brothers, you cannot be tone deaf right now in this current environment,” said Williams. “You are in a billion-dollar bubble. If you want to complain about the anxieties you have about COVID-19 related issues, I get it. But, when I hear NBA players complaining about living facilities, food that they have being delivered to them, it is tone deaf.”
Williams addressed the comments he made on Monday morning’s Get Up with Mike Greenberg and made it clear he was addressing the select few players rather than the majority with his post.
“Even though they were said in a playful manner, a lot of the comments that were made over the last couple of days have been tone deaf,” said Williams. “When they make comments like that, it takes away from everyday people who are working 9-5 jobs, who are working in environments where the same protective measures aren’t being taken because a lot of their employers are trying to increase the bottom line due to the money they have lost throughout this pandemic.”
In his comments, Williams made it clear that the players are everyday Americans as well. He also brought up the point to those players that posting the pictures or videos can cause people to lose the message they will try to send down in Orlando on the campus.
As Mike Greenberg pointed out at the end of the segment, most of the negative comments made by the players were in jest. However, you have to wonder if the players should have thought about who was going to see these pictures or videos before they hit send because of how sensitive this subject is to people hurting from the pandemic.
