Anthony Davis tries to stay busy — and informed — during NBA shutdown
Anthony Davis tries to keep himself informed about the COVID-19 pandemic these days. When he gets vital information he tries to pass it along to family and friends.
“I just saw yesterday the United States became number one in cases,” the Lakers’ All-Star forward said by phone on Friday. “It’s kind of just getting out of hand. I’m trying to stay as safe as possible, doing what our team doctors told us and just trying to have a good spirit about everything and tell the people I can reach out to, to stay safe.
“Obviously it’s a tragedy and devastating. There’s a sadness of what’s going on with our players around the league, our players families and everyone around the world. When a lot of people are going through it and able to share their stories and share the severity of the situation it helps everyone out. It opens people’s eyes … a lot of people aren’t too informed about it.”
The NBA suspended play indefinitely on March 11 after Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19 just before his Utah Jazz were set to play the Oklahoma City Thunder. Days later the Brooklyn Nets announced four players tested positive — they had played the Lakers on March 10.
“I knew right away we would probably get tested,” Davis said. “It’s kind of tricky because some guys, you feel fine and you could have it, asymptomatic. And some guys you have all the symptoms. I felt fine and I felt great. I still do. [At the time] I was like that doesn’t mean I don’t have it. We all showed up and took the test. It was fine.”
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Davis said his test returned negative. He and teammates have been under self-quarantine orders for two weeks, a period of time that will end on Monday.
Davis last spoke to reporters on March 11, several hours before the NBA suspended operations. He’d been following the news of the spread of the pandemic. He talked about the number of deaths being attributed to the disease.
He talked about the situation in Italy, at the time unthinkable in the United States, where tens of thousands of cases already had been reported. He’d heard there had been measures taken to help Italians with mortgages and rents at a time when their country was under quarantine and hoped to find ways to help local workers, particularly those at Staples Center, if the city or state had to shut down as well.
On Friday, Davis announced two partnerships with Lineage Logistics that will help Staples Center employees find work and will also help an organization purchase meals from local restaurants to feed hospital workers in emergency rooms and internsive care units.
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While Davis tries to pass along information he’s given by team doctors to his family and friends, it goes both ways. Davis’ mother and her sisters, who both work in healthcare, keep him abreast about their conditions. One of his aunts had to be sent home from work recently after an exposure to COVID-19.
Otherwise, Davis’ days are spent trying to figure out how to fill them. Workouts at home involve mostly weight training. He also has a half court at the home where he is now, and a full court at his other Los Angeles-area home, where he can do individual works. He spends time with family. He stays in touch with his teammates.
“We’re sending each other highlight tapes because we miss the game,” Davis said. “… Guys are finding a way to work out safely because you know the season isn’t over. We want to make sure we pick up where we left off. We were in a great place.”
He plays video games. He watches movies.
“After that have 18 hours left to figure out what I’m going to do,” Davis said. “Video games only last for a little bit. Movies only last for a little bit. I’ve been going to sleep a lot earlier than normal.”
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