With the NBA suffering from a COVID-19 outbreak that threatens to pause the season, Denver Nuggets guard Austin Rivers shared some of the wild conspiracy theories that have been floating around the Nuggets locker room.
“Fucking wild theories,” Rivers told Rolling Stone about the anti-vax and testing conspiracy theories he hears amongst unnamed members of the organization. Among the theories alluded to by Rolling Stone are “Moderna mind control” and “Joe Biden and Big Pharma in bed with the Illuminati for millions.” He also said that some of his teammates believe the push for vaccinations is “all for money,” despite it being free to receive. “How’s it for money? It’s fucking free!” Rivers is quoted as saying.
Christmas is one of the biggest game days for the league, with some of the year's biggest matchups set to hit national television on Saturday. Ahead of the holiday, Rivers says that none of the players know what's going to happen, considering how rampant COVID has become in the NBA.
“A lot of people just believe they’re trying to get through the Christmas games — that’s a big day for the NBA, a lotta money there — and after that no one knows what’s going to happen,” he explained.
Rivers, who is fully vaccinated, recognizes that one of the main issues the league is facing right now is the lack of sufficient testing. He even went as far as saying that he and others aren’t even aware of who has contracted the virus.
“That’s why this is getting out of hand: We’re not testing. We don’t even know who has it! I don’t even know if anybody on our team has it right now,” Rivers said. “Even if it’s annoying and guys gotta come back twice a day — and everybody’s gonna do it, because at the end of the day, everybody wants to get paid. Everyone wants to play.”
Earlier this week, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said that he has no plans on pausing the season despite the surge in COVID cases and teams not having enough players to play in games. Only time will tell if this was the best decision for the league.
