The Houston Rockets are dealing with drama on multiple fronts as they get set to begin the 2020-21 season. In addition to the James Harden debacle, the Rockets are currently in a state of emergency involving COVID-19, with multiple players testing positive in recent days.
Ben McLemore was already in self-isolation due to a recent positive test. The latest player to test positive was Kenyon Martin Jr., and John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins and Jae'Sean Tate were sent home due to contact tracing.
According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, this apparently stemmed from haircuts:
“Wall, Cousins and [Kenyon] Martin were among Rockets players gathered on Tuesday evening at a player's apartment away from the team facility getting haircuts, sources said,” wrote Wojnarowski. “The Rockets listed Martin as ‘not with the team/self isolating' for the opener against Oklahoma City Wednesday night in Houston, and sources told ESPN that he was awaiting further test results to affirm the original positive.”
Woj says Martin had one positive coronavirus test and one negative one in the last 24 hours, and now he's awaiting results of another test. The Rockets are supposed to play the Oklahoma City Thunder to open their season on Wednesday night, and they could be very shorthanded if the game is played.
It's certainly something of a mess in Houston right now, between this COVID issue and Harden's behavior amid his trade demand. Many people were quick to speculate that Harden was the source of this coronavirus-related problem due to his maskless presence at a club, but he wasn't to blame for this.
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