Source: Ezra Shaw / Getty
Brooklyn Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie told players inside the bubble to not use the snitch Hotline… but they’re not listening to him.
Players and coaches alike are already using the hotline that was set up by the NBA to hold everyone inside the bubble accountable. According to Joe Vardon of The Athletic, most of the calls have just been for not wearing masks and violating social distancing rules.
Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported Tuesday multiple calls have been placed, and some players have reportedly received warnings for violations.
Dwight Howard is one of the players inside the bubble who has been reported for not wearing a face mask and not practicing social distancing.
While people are referring to this as a snitch hotline, Jalen Rose made a great point about what this really should be called, and it’s not snitching. The more appropriate term is a whistleblower.
For example, Sacramento Kings center Richaun Holmes must already be tired of the lackluster food offerings in the bubble because he’s being forced to stay in his room for another 10 days because he picked up a food delivery.
But some of those calls aren’t as serious as spotting someone not wearing a mask– just ask Jimmy Butler. Someone called the hotline to report loud thumping in a nearby room. And once a security guard investigated, he found the Miami Heat guard in his full practice uniform, drenched in sweat as he completed an entire workout with the thumping noise being him dribbling a basketball.
The league’s commissioner Adam Silver has said he was expecting some positive tests early in the process and before teams reported to the bubble. Still, if tests continue later into the time in the bubble, it would be more worrisome to him.
“We would know that there’s, in essence, a hole in our bubble or that our quarantine or our campus is not working in some way,” Silver said, per Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. “So that would be very concerning.”
The resumption of the season, July 30, can’t come soon enough.
