Among the numerous short-term rules the NBA imposed to slow the spread of the coronavirus through the league was one that said players could not hug or hang out postgame on the court. While we can debate the logic of a guideline that says “you can bang into each other, sweat and breathe on each other for 48 minutes, but don’t hug after” but that’s the rule.
Bam Adebayo and Kyrie Irving are good friends, and after Bam scored a career-high 41 on the Nets — which was not enough to prevent a Brooklyn win — the two briefly hugged at center court. Then Irving asked Adebayo for his jersey, and that’s when security stepped in.
“Oh, he definitely wants it,” Adebayo said of the jersey postgame (via the Associated Press). “I’m going to send him one on my own time.”
Irving, who recently got hit with a $50,000 fine by the league for violating league coronavirus rules, followed the company line.
“I just want to follow NBA protocols,” he said.