Dennis Schroder will not be with the Oklahoma City Thunder for as long as the team is on the bubble.
His wife is pregnant and is expected to give birth three or four weeks, he said Tuesday during a phone call with Zoom.
Schroder will leave the Orlando bubble to be with her during that time.
“I will not leave my wife alone while she is about to have a second child,” he said. “Junior is still 17 months old, so I will definitely go there and support her and try as much as possible to be there for my family.”
That three or four week chronology would have put birth one day or another in the first or second week of August.
This would likely cause Thunder without Schroder for all eight pre-playoffs.
Once he returns to Orlando after birth and after spending time with his family, he will need to be tested for coronavirus again and may need to be quarantined. It’s unclear what the NBA rules are for a player who leaves and returns, but Sacramento Kings Richaun Holmes center is quarantined for eight days after leaving the perimeter of the campus to collect food.
If Schroder returns to the team in mid-August and has the same eight-day quarantine, he may lose a couple of playoff games. This absence could be prolonged if he stays with the family and new baby longer.
The first round of the playoffs is scheduled to begin on August 18.
.
