A trip to a strip club cost Kristaps Porzingis more than a few singles.
The NBA fined the former Knicks star and current Mavericks forward for $ 50,000 for visiting a Los Angeles gentlemen’s club on Sunday, ESPN says, a violation of the league’s COVID-19 protocol that prohibits players from visiting bars, clubs and lounges.
The punishment raised some eyebrows, given that NBA Golden Boy and Lakers star LeBron James were not fined for violating COVID-19 protocols by attending a promotional event for a tequila business last week.
“While we understand the tendency to compare this incident to protocol violations by other players, including LeBron James, these facts are very different,” the league said in a statement to Athletic. “LeBron briefly attended an outdoor event related to an individual business activity where everyone had to either get vaccinated or return a negative COVID test. The league reviews each potential protocol violation on a case-by-case basis, determines quarantines and imposes discipline based on the facts and circumstances of each case. “
Because Porzingis has been vaccinated against the coronavirus, the 26-year-old will not miss any playoff games against the Clippers or be forced to self-quarantine. Medical experts consulted by the league said Porzingis was at the club “did not create risks from the spread of COVID-19”, which is in line with studies from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention which show vaccines are effective to prevent transmission of the virus. .
James, 36, did not say if he had been vaccinated.
Porzingis, who was forced to miss a scrum last July after failing a COVID-19 test in the NBA’s Orlando bubble, is in the middle of a five-year, $ 158 million contract with Dallas.
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