Rockets’ sixth man Danuel House has left the NBA restart bubble in Orlando, and he is out for the rest of the playoffs. His teammates may not be far behind him.
The NBA announced it concluded its investigation into House, finding he let a woman into the Rockets’ hotel (the Grand Floridian) in violation of NBA bubble protocol. The result of the investigation is that House has left the restart bubble:
The findings are that: (i) Houston Rockets forward Danuel House had a guest in his hotel room over multiple hours on September 8 who was not authorized to be on campus and (ii) no evidence was found that other players or staff had contact with the guest or were involved in this incident.
“Mr. House is leaving the NBA campus and will not participate with the Rockets team in additional games this season.”
House allegedly helped a woman who was one of the people testing players for the coronavirus back into the campus, then she spent time in his room. While there had been leaks about a lack of video and direct evidence (leaks that certainly came from people tied to the Rockets or the players’ union), and complaints stars would have gotten different treatment, the league felt it had enough evidence to take this step. There has been no formal reaction yet from Houston or the players’ union.
Two quick thoughts here. One is an interesting note from current Indy star Pacers’ beat writer J. Michael, who worked for NBC Sports Washington covering the Wizards previously. What House did in the bubble may not have been out of character.
Note: He had 2 stints in DC to start his career and didn’t stick though he was good enough. I’d reported then the reasons they moved on had to do with off-court judgment. It wasn’t about his ability to play https://t.co/yxD0QxGb1J
— J. Michael (@ThisIsJMichael) September 11, 2020
The other thought: This is a blow to the Rockets’ hopes of a comeback against the Lakers from down 3-1. House has missed the last two games of Houston’s series against the L.A. Lakers, both Rockets’ losses, and they missed his shooting and toughness, especially against a Los Angeles team that tests Houston’s depth.
P.J. Tucker today: “He plays 30 minutes a game on our team. When you’re missing somebody that (plays) that much game time for your team, it’s tough. We’re having to make up for it, but it’s something we’ll have to adjust and figure out.” https://t.co/HYPsKDyAaN
— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) September 11, 2020