LA Lakers guard Avery Bradley told ESPN he has opted out of playing when NBA resumes season in Orlando
Despite being among the handful of NBA championship favorites playing on the LeBron James-led Los Angeles Lakers, guard Avery Bradley told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski that he is opting out of playing the remainder of the NBA season when it resumes play in Florida.
The guard told ESPN that he decided against joining the Lakers for family reasons.
Bradley’s 6-year-old son, Liam — Bradley and his wife Ashley have three children — has a history of struggling to recover from respiratory illnesses and would have unlikely been medically cleared to enter the NBA’s bubble in Florida.
The NBA season was suspended on March 11 due to the pandemic, and the league recently approved a plan to play out the rest of the season at Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex near Orlando with 22 teams participating.
“As committed to my Lakers teammates and the organization as I am, I ultimately play basketball for my family,” Bradley told ESPN.
“And so, at a time like this, I can’t imagine making any decision that might put my family’s health and well-being at even the slightest risk.”
Bradley has started 44 games for the Lakers this season, averaging 8.6 points per game. The Lakers are the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference with a 49-14 record.
Teams are required to test players for coronavirus from June 23-30, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania. The NBA is targeting July 30 as the season’s restart date, Charania and Wojnarowski reported.
