Utah center Rudy Gobert revealed that after much deliberation, he decided to become vaccinated. San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich has gotten his booster shot already. Boston coach Ime Udoka had his shots and tested positive for COVID-19 anyway.

And Brooklyn guard Kyrie Irving is keeping everyone guessing.

The NBA season arrived Monday with media days in advance of training camp, with the ongoing pandemic as much if not even more of a topic than basketball. This will be the third season affected at least in part by the pandemic, almost certainly not the last, and some teams revealed that their rosters are 100% vaccinated entering the season.

“When I felt like it was the right time, I did it,” said Gobert — the first NBA player who was known to test positive for COVID-19, back on March 11, 2020.

The same goes for Giannis Antetokounmpo of the NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks, who still isn’t totally sure if the vaccine will present issues down the road.

But much like sentiments expressed by Portland’s Damian Lillard and Memphis’ Ja Morant, Antetokounmpo — a father of two — said his family played a major role in his decision to get vaccinated.

“I did what was best for me and my family’s safety. … You do whatever it takes for you and your family to be OK,” Antetokounmpo said.

The Spurs have a fully vaccinated roster, Popovich said. The New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers said last week that they would have the same, and some other clubs — including Utah, Portland, Houston, and Charlotte — said they were at the 100% mark.

Other teams are close to being fully vaccinated.

Miami will be by the start of the season, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity Monday because the Heat vaccine rate has not been publicly revealed by the team.

Toronto general manager Bobby Webster said the Raptors are “one dose” away from being there, as did Atlanta GM Travis Schlenk.

Leaguewide, the rate is believed to be around 90% and climbing.

“There is still a lot of stuff going on out there,” Popovich said. “You see all the bumps in cases here and there. You see all the areas where people are not vaccinated. It’s a double-edged sword. I think we are in good shape right now. We’re trying to do everything we can to make sure we can be safe, which means we’ve got to be disciplined day to day to day today.”

Players who are vaccinated will not be tested often; unvaccinated players will be tested on all practice days and travel days, and at least once on game days.

The list of unvaccinated players includes Washington’s Bradley Beal — who missed out on the chance to play for an Olympic gold medal with USA Basketball this summer after testing positive.

Beal said he remains unvaccinated for “personal reasons,” and has questions about why someone can still contract the virus even after being vaccinated.

“Would I love to sit here and tell you that we’re 100% vaccinated? I’d be thrilled about that,” Denver coach Michael Malone said. “The fact is that we’re not, and that’s all I’ll say on that matter regarding who is and who’s not. It’s a delicate balance. It is not my place to tell somebody that they have to be vaccinated.”

Irving is among the individuals at the center of that debate in the NBA right now.

By local rule in New York, to play for the Nets at home this season Irving would have to be vaccinated or receive an exemption — something that Golden State’s Andrew Wiggins sought from the NBA unsuccessfully last week because of San Francisco has similar rules.

“I’m just going to keep fighting for what I believe,” Wiggins said Monday.

Irving wasn’t at media day in Brooklyn on Monday, instead of appearing remotely and refusing to say if he plans to play in home games.

“Please respect my privacy,” Irving said.

Added Nets forward Kevin Durant, at media day: “That’s on Kyrie. That’s his personal decision.”

Irving is keeping his status and reasoning private. Orlando’s Jonathan Isaac is not.

Isaac, whose mother works in health care, has had COVID-19 already. He is not vaccinated, but insisted he is not anti-vaccine, anti-medicine, or anti-science, either.

“I thank God, I’m grateful, that I live in a society where vaccines are possible and we can protect ourselves and have the means to protect ourselves in the first place,” Isaac said. “That being said, it is my belief that the vaccine status of every person should be their own choice. … I’m not ashamed to say that I’m uncomfortable with taking the vaccine at this time.”

Media day tends to have some loose moments, and Durant was at the forefront of one of those when he was asked why people call him “KD.” The reporter — “Dave from Basketball Digest” — was none other than David Letterman, who got laughs from media that were present even though Durant didn’t outwardly show any happiness with the line of questioning.

Popovich joined San Antonio reporters to ask the hard-hitting question of why shooting matters in basketball, and in Miami, Jimmy Butler crashed Kyle Lowry’s first Heat availability in an effort to get him to endorse his coffee brand.

“He’s going to pay me very handsomely,” Lowry said.

There were also reminders that the pandemic isn’t over.

Udoka, entering his first season as Celtics’ coach, is wrapping up a 10-day quarantine after testing positive and plans to be at the team’s first practice Tuesday. Phoenix’s Devin Booker wasn’t at Suns media day, already in the league’s health and safety protocols — indicating some sort of testing or contact-tracing issue.

But camps are opening. A regular 82-game season is planned. Fans will be back in buildings. Popovich, the NBA’s longest-tenured current coach who said he qualified for his booster shot already because he’s in his 90s — he’s really only 72 — may have summed up the order of things in the NBA now perfectly with this assessment: “Normalcy, with a good dose of caution.”

“I think getting vaccinated is your choice,” Indiana guard Malcolm Brogdon said. “I think it’s absolutely your choice. But at the same time, we’re trying to protect the entire NBA. Not just our team, but the entire NBA.”

Source: www.click2houston.com

Denny Hamlin will reach the third round of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs next month having faced the make-or-break pressure of the postseason only twice.

Ending the first race of each postseason round in victory lane can do wonders for the blood pressure of a driver and his team because every winner clinches a spot in the following round.

Hamlin won three weeks ago at Darlington to open the playoffs, and then he did it again Sunday night at Las Vegas in the second-round opener. He is the first driver to win the first race in each of the first two rounds since NASCAR introduced this playoff format in 2014.

Two playoff races, two tickets punched — and four ensuing opportunities to race with no weight on Hamlin’s shoulders.

“I’m so happy to not have to worry about the next two weeks,” he said.

Sunday’s victory was Hamlin’s first in Vegas, the 46th of his career — and arguably one of his most important if it helps him to stay on course for title contention.

“It’s just such an advantage to win any race in the playoffs, but certainly the first race of any round,” said Chris Gabehart, Hamlin’s crew chief. “Especially this (second) round. You look at Talladega and Charlotte — you can’t stress enough. Every one of these race teams is professional, so they deal with the stress and the pressure. They handle it. But it’s there. It exists. You can’t look past it. It’s real. We’ve only had to deal with that for what will be two of the first six races of the playoffs.”

Tension is running high in other areas of the paddock, and not strictly because of the playoff pressure.

Kevin Harvick is still upset with defending champion Chase Elliott after their conflict at Bristol last weekend. Before Sunday’s race in Vegas, Harvick compared his dialogue with Elliott to a conversation with his own 9-year-old son, Keelan.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever been that mad,” said Harvick, who is no stranger to on-track anger. “That was probably the maddest I’ve ever been.”

Harvick asserted the race at Bristol had been manipulated by Elliott’s tactics to slow him down. Harvick didn’t explicitly vow retribution, but said: “That stuff all comes full circle in this deal and has a funny way of teaching you.”

Harvick wasn’t in position for any revenge in Vegas, finishing ninth while Elliott came in second. Elliott had a shot to catch Hamlin on the final 10 laps but couldn’t quite close the gap with a driver on a major role.

The next time Hamlin’s future will be on the line is Oct. 17 at Texas in the opening race of the third round. In a way, he’s already more than halfway to the long-anticipated first championship of his 17-year career if he can keep up this remarkable success.

He’s not relaxing in the interim — he even debated skipping any post-victory partying in Vegas because he wanted to get back to Charlotte in time to get his daughters from school on Monday. But when he lines up next week at Talladega, Hamlin will race free and easy.

“From my standpoint, it’s a free pass to go there and try to lead every lap (and) win the race,” Hamlin said.

Hamlin and his Joe Gibbs Racing crew intend to make the most of their opportunity as they close in on the chance to race for Hamlin’s long-sought, never-achieved first championship. They will use the weekends at Talladega and the Charlotte Roval to stay sharp and to make adjustments for the dwindling races that still count.

“Listen, I’m still professional,” Hamlin said. “I still want to go out there and win the next two weeks. There is no reason for us to take any weeks off. We don’t take any weeks off. .. We’ve been in playoff mode for quite a while now. I’m more looking forward to it now than worrying about all the what-ifs of what can happen that can take you out. During the course of my career, I’ve had just about all the what-ifs actually happen. It’s good to know we’ve got nothing to lose at this point.”

Everyone involved also understands the capricious nature of a NASCAR playoff title. Several months of hard work and steady improvements can put a driver in a strong position, but it can all be undone in one race, particularly at the end.

Yet Hamlin is clearly peaking at the right time. The victory in Darlington was his first of the year, and he still racked up a second-place and ninth-place finish before his second win at Vegas. Hamlin has an impressive 21 top-10 finishes this season.

“Certainly our team has been really capable all year long,” Gabehart said. “Every metric other than the win column has been astounding for our team. It’s really been our best year together thus far. You stay upfront as much as we have, the wins are going to finally come.

“They’re coming at the right time.”

Source: www.click2houston.com