After violating coronavirus protocols and absorbing a $ 50,000 fine, the NBA calls for James Rocken, a Houston Rockets star, to quarantine and test negative for four days, which should pave the way for his return. Saturday against the Portland Trail Blazers, sources told ESPN.
League medical staff started the clock in a Harden quarantine with the negative test on Tuesday and should receive clearance on Friday, sources said.
Harden was disciplined after the video appeared at an indoor meeting in Houston without a mask. He would not have been allowed to play the Rockets ’scheduled game against Oklahoma City on Wednesday, which was finally postponed because the Rockets were unable to meet league guidelines with eight eligible players.
Harden’s maskless partying video, posted by Black Sports Online and circulating on social media, allegedly comes from a Houston club’s Christmas party held this week.
NBA COVID-19 protocols prohibit players from going to bars, lounges, or clubs and participating in social gatherings of more than 15 people.
The league said Harden violated those rules when he attended a “private indoor party” on Monday.
Harden told NBA investigators he believed he complied with health and safety protocols, a source close to the situation told ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne. Several tougher witnesses to the event have told the league that he attended a seated dinner for a friend who had recently been promoted to work, the source told ESPN.
According to the source, Harden said he entered through a separate entrance and was sitting in a separate area of the enclosure with his security details and wearing a mask. He took a picture with his friend and gave it to him as a gift. Harden, the source said, said he left after about 30 minutes and did not continue with the group, which went elsewhere later in the evening.
Harden, who has applied to be swapped, violated league COVID-19 protocols during his brief stay at the start of training camp when he attended rapper Lil Baby’s birthday party in Atlanta and attended Las Vegas clubs. The league required Harden to have six consecutive days of negative coronavirus testing before getting him to practice with the Rockets.
Sources told ESPN that Harden had COVID-19 over the summer before restarting the NBA season, which is why he was late reporting on the Walt Disney World league bubble. Players who have recovered from the coronavirus still have to follow league safety and health protocols.
ESPN’s Tim MacMahon contributed to this report.