Tim Connelly, president of Denver Nuggets basketball operations, spoke with Michael Porter Jr. about the second year forward that he theorises that the coronavirus pandemic is “being used for population control”.
Connelly made no statements, but Nuggets head coach Michael Malone said he learned of Porter’s comments – which were made during a Snapchat Q&A session – when he boarded the team bus to practice Wednesday morning. .
“Obviously, I’m not the police I thought of,” Malone said during a Zoom session with reporters. “I won’t tell any of our players what they can and cannot say. All I would say is just be sensitive to the current situation in our country and around the world with regards to coronavirus.
“Michael Porter and any other player on our roster have a right to their opinions and ability to speak freely, and I will respect that until it becomes a distraction. What Michael said, being around our players in the morning at breakfast and practice, it has become a distraction at all. “
Porter’s comments made headlines when the death toll of coronavirus approached 150,000 in the United States and stood at 661,917 worldwide on Wednesday.
“Personally, I think coronavirus is obviously being used for a larger agenda,” said Porter, 22, on Snapchat. “It is used for population control in terms of being able to control masses of people. I mean, because of the virus, the whole world is being controlled.”
“You have to wear masks,” added Porter. “And who knows what will happen when this vaccine comes out? You may need to have the vaccine to travel. Like, it would be insane.”
Malone has repeatedly recommended his players to express their views on protests nationwide against police brutality and not to allow NBA games to distract the Black Lives Matter movement.
The Nuggets coach said he would not “muzzle” any of his players from expressing their beliefs. But he and the Nuggets will continue to try to educate players so that they are informed before talking about the issues.
“I know Tim Connelly, our front office, spoke to Michael about his comments long before I realized what was being said,” said Malone. “So it was [discussed with] he; understand the situation. Again, we as an organization are not going to muzzle anyone.
“If anyone has a strong belief in something, they have the platform and the freedom to use it. We will simply try to educate the kids so they understand the impact of what they might say.”
Malone was frustrated that his list was decimated by late arrivals to the Walt Disney World resort due to positive coronavirus injury and tests. Malone said scrimmages scored the only time his team was able to do 5 out of 5 due to the lack of players available for testing.
The coach said he is not sure who will be available to play against Miami Heat on Saturday when the Nuggets (43-22) start their seeding games in third place in the Western Conference. In the team’s first scrimmage, the Nuggets were forced to send Nikola Jokic 7 feet to the front guard along with 6-8 Jerami Grant, 7-2 Bol Bol, 6-7 Paul Millsap and 6-11 Mason Plumlee.
“Right now, to be honest, I’m not worried about our seeding,” said Malone. “My # 1 concern is health. This continues to be a major concern for me, a huge point of emphasis. We can find a way to stay healthy on August 17th. [when the postseason begins]? “
“I have no idea who will be available on Saturday at one o’clock against Miami,” he added later. “Today we did a practice and we had a lot of guys who were kept out of practice because of injuries and only very, very cautious … Because every day there seems to be a change in the availability of some players. .. Once we have those answers in terms of availability, we will have a much simpler time to figure out who the hell is going to play for us. “
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