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The Brooklyn Nets were without multiple players inside the Disney bubble for varying reasons.
Kevin Durant (right Achilles) and Kyrie Irving (right shoulder) were still rehabbing and Nic Claxton (left shoulder) underwent season-ending surgery in late June.
DeAndre Jordan opted out after testing positive for COVID-19. Spencer Dinwiddie also had to opt-out after his second positive COVID-19 test in as many weeks. A late positive COVID-19 test also forced Taurean Prince to stay home during the restart.
But there was one member of the Nets who didn’t test positive for COVID-19 or have an injury that didn’t make the trip: Wilson Chandler.
After he elected to opt-out, Chandler expressed on the “Court Vision” podcast that concerns regarding COVID-19 led to his decision, though he didn’t go into specifics beyond taking care of his children and grandmother.
But now the Nets forward painted a clearer picture.
Chandler told Mirin Fader of Bleacher Report there was too much uncertainty surrounding the illness when he opted out, even for those who recovered from the illness.
And there are still things Chandler, and many others, don’t know about COVID-19:
I’m not a doctor. I don’t know the long-term effects of COVID. They were saying that many players are asymptomatic, but I don’t know the long-term effects. So, being uncertain of the future, that made me afraid.
Chandler also added:
It’s never about me. It’s about my family and those underlying conditions that might [put them] at risk. Just keeping them safe. When you have kids, you just want to be able to protect them.