A hot-take on the NBA’s strict COVID-19 guidelines from George Hill has the Oklahoma City Thunder guard facing backlash. Following the Thunder’s loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday (January 12), Hill spoke about the restrictions imposed by the league. When players aren’t at practice or competing on the court, they’re required to quarantine either at home or inside of their hotel rooms. After being alerted of the new rules, Hill made it clear that he can’t be told what to do.


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“I’m a grown man, so I’m gonna do what I wanna do,” said Hill. “If I wanna go see my family, I’m gonna go see my family. They can’t tell me I have to stay in the room 24/7. If it’s that serious then maybe we shouldn’t be playing. It’s life. No one’s gonna be able to just cancel their whole life for this game. That’s how I think about it.”

“We wanna play the game,” Hill added. “That’s what we love to do. But at the same time if we’re casting all these rules, this and that, maybe they need to reevaluate what we’re doing. If it’s that serious where you’re telling guys they can’t leave a room. I just don’t understand some of the rules as far as we can sweat 48 minutes with the guy next to us and the team next to us, but we can’t talk to him after the game. It makes no sense.” 

As American citizens continue to wait their turn in the roll-out of the COVID-19 vaccine, many major cities like Los Angeles are facing new lockdown measures. Hospitals nationwide have been at capacity and some are even turning away non-COVID patients who have suffered strokes, heart attacks, and other serious ailments. Yesterday, it was announced that because of COVID’s rising numbers, several NBA games have been postponed.

Hill was met with mixed reviews after his statement circulated and many people agreed with him. Check out a few reactions below.

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