Against the league's COVID-19 protocols, Houston Rockets guard John Wall approached and hugged former Washington Wizards teammate Bradley Beal. Wall knows that what they did was illegal but was willing to pay for any consequences.

Per Fred Katz of The Athletic, Wall shared that though they're not donning similar jerseys anymore, Beal will always remain close to his heart from their time together in Washington. So much so that he won't let the league's protocols from dabbing his man up.

Several weeks ago, the NBA has set new guidelines to limit player interaction before and after the game. The official release read in part:

During the pre- and post-game periods, players must limit interactions to elbow or fist bumps, avoid extended socializing and maintain 6 feet of distance as much as possible.

The new guidelines have garnered some criticism. After all, basketball is a physical sport and during the entire 48-minutes of basketball action, players touch, elbow, push and sweat on each other. As such, the new rule doesn't make sense to a lot of players.

The former Wizards teammates aren't alone, though. Just a few days ago, Kyrie Irving of the Brooklyn Nets and Bam Adebayo of the Miami Heat were involved in a similar illegal interaction. Both players attempted to exchange jerseys but security stopped them from doing so.

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Wizards player Jordan Poole looking at Brian Keefe, Phil Handy.

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Bradley Beal surrounded by a pile of cash.

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Photo: Silhouette of Jordan Poole in Wizards jersey, Tommy Sheppard

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However, in their next meeting just a day apart, Irving and Adebayo completed their transaction. Though it was only Irving who was able to hand his jersey to Adebayo.

After seeing the latest contact between former Wizards teammates, the new rule definitely isn't stopping these players from exchanging pleasantries with their colleagues.