Danuel House Jr. status: What we know about his potential NBA bubble violation

The key bench player could miss the rest of the series vs. the Lakers.

Danuel House Jr. has become a major part of the Houston Rockets rotation this year and especially in the playoffs.

But after he was declared out for Game 3 of the Rockets’ Western semifinals series against the Los Angeles Lakers due to “personal reasons,” it’s possible he could miss the rest of the series.

Thanks to multiple reports, we now know why: the NBA is investigating whether House violated on-campus protocols in Disney World.

It began with ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Tim MacMahon, who said House “did not leave the perimeter of the campus,” per sources, and that the league is trying to figure out whether he should be subject to a 10-day quarantine.

Then came this from Yahoo’s Chris Haynes:

Houston Rockets reserve Danuel House Jr. is under investigation by the league for allegedly allowing a female COVID-19 testing official into his hotel room, and his status for the remainder of the Western Conference semifinals against the Los Angeles Lakers is in question, sources told Yahoo Sports.

House maintains his innocence, sources said, and a decision from the league is expected before Game 4 on Thursday.

On Thursday afternoon, The Athletic’s Shams Charania and Sam Amick added this:

A female entered the Rockets’ team hotel on Monday night, passing multiple security checkpoints before being flagged for her entry, sources said. She exited the hotel in the early hours of Tuesday morning, and the league cited early data points that implicated two members of the Rockets, House and Tyson Chandler, sources said. When the female was questioned by NBA security, she did not implicate House’s name and it is uncertain whether she remains on campus, sources said. She claimed to have contact with Chandler and another player, not named House, according to sources.

According to sources, the Rockets’ entire team had to enter a quarantine period on Tuesday due to the potential exposure. Those sources said there appears to be no video connecting House and the female; only the flagging of her entering and leaving the hotel, and the possibility of a door opening and closing to match those timelines. The NBA has informed involved parties that it has circumstantial evidence implicating House.

The difference here: was that person a “testing official” like we saw in the Yahoo report or not? And “circumstantial evidence?”

We’ll find out soon enough what the decision is, but what actually happened is still very much up in the air.

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