New Orleans Pelicans assistant coach Jeff Bzdelik and Los Angeles Lakers assistant coach Lionel Hollins will not be joining their respective teams in Orlando to finish the 2019-20 NBA season.
Both Bzdelik and Hollins were flagged by the league as higher risk candidates for contracting the coronavirus.
The Center for Disease Control has stated that parties over the age of 65 are more likely to face serious ailments from COVID-19.
“There are several members of our staff that we’re not going to be able to bring into the bubble that, quite frankly, we need in the bubble. But the environment just doesn’t allow us to do that and that’s just part of the pandemic life and the situation we’re in,” Lakers head coach Frank Vogel said, via ESPN.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Jeff Bzdelik will not be joining his team either.
New Orleans Pelicans associate head coach Jeff Bzdelik, 67, won’t be joining the team in Orlando, his agent Warren LeGarie tells ESPN. The organization is supportive of the decision.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 3, 2020
As of now, head coaches Alvin Gentry, Greg Popovich, and Mike D’Antoni — all over the age of 65 — are planning on traveling with their teams to Orlando.