Some high-profile athletes choose families, social justice over returning to sports

The list of professional athletes opting out of resuming or starting their season is growing. Fear of putting their health and the health of their families at risk of contracting the coronavirus is at the forefront as the return of pro sports becomes reality.

Colorado Rockies infielder Ian Desmond is the latest MLB player to announce that he was choosing to put his health and his family ahead of his career, doing so in an emotional Instagram post.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has made this baseball season one that is a risk I am not comfortable taking,” the 34-year-old wrote. “With a pregnant wife and four young children who have lots of questions about what’s going on in the world, home is where I need to be right now.”

Desmond, who is biracial, also commented on the ongoing racial tensions around the country following the death of George Floyd, who died while in police custody on May 25. His death sparked an avalanche of protests across the nation. He died after Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin pressed a knee into Floyd’s neck for about eight minutes. Chauvin and three other officers have been charged in Floyd’s death.

“Home for my wife, Chelsey. Home to help. Home to guide. Home to answer my older three boys’ questions about Coronavirus and Civil Rights and life. Home to be their Dad,” Desmond wrote.

And he’s not alone.

More and more athletes are stepping forward, expressing worries for themselves and their loved ones.

MLB

Along with Desmond, Arizona Diamondbacks veteran pitcher Mike Leake bowed out of the 60-game season scheduled to start July 23 or 24.

“This was not an easy decision for Mike,” said Danny Horwits, Leake’s agent, according to ESPN. “He wishes the best of luck and health for his Diamondback teammates this season and he’s looking forward to 2021.”

Washington Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman and pitcher Joe Ross also announced that they were opting out.

“After a great deal of thought and given my family circumstances — three young children including a newborn, and a mother at high risk — I have decided not to participate in the 2020 season,” Zimmerman said in a statement that was posted on Twitter on Monday. “I have a 3-week-old baby. My mother has multiple sclerosis and is super high risk; if I end up playing, I can pretty much throw out the idea of seeing her until weeks after the season is over. There’s a lot of factors that I and others have to consider. I don’t think there’s a right or wrong answer; it’s everybody’s individual choice.”

NBA

The 2019-20 NBA season is set to resume on July 30 in Orlando, Florida, but multiple players have already announced that they would rather stick close to their families and friends rather than risk restarting the season with the pandemic still looming.

Portland Trail Blazers forward Trevor Ariza announced that he won’t be joining his team due to being heavily involved in a custody case over his son, ESPN reported. Ariza was replaced by guard Jaylen Adams.

While speaking to The Athletic on Tuesday, Blazers superstar Damian Lillard expressed his concerns about the restart in Orlando.

“I don’t think I’m ever going to be 100% comfortable,” he said when asked what he needed to happen to be comfortable with playing. “Just because I understand that there is no way this could be kept 100% safe.”

Davis Bertains with the Washington Wizards, who is set to become a coveted unrestricted free agent, said that he will sit out the rest of the season as well.

Avery Bradley of the Los Angeles Lakers is not joining teammates LeBron James and Anthony Davis because he doesn’t want to put his family at risk, especially son Liam, who has a history of struggling with respiratory illnesses, CNN reports.

“As committed to the my Lakers teammates and the organization as I am, I ultimately play basketball for my family,” Bradley told ESPN. “And so, at a time like this, I can’t imagine making any decision that might put my family’s health and well-being at event the slightest risk.”

Also opting out is Dallas Mavericks center Willie Cauley-Stein, who is expecting a baby in July with his partner, according to The Athletic; and Brooklyn Nets DeAndre Jordan and Spencer Dinwiddie, who both tested positive for coronavirus recently, and Wilson Chandler, who doesn’t want to put his family at risk.

WNBA

The WNBA is in talks to start its season, and several players, including Atlanta Dream guard Renee Montgomery, have said that returning to play is not a commitment they’re willing to make.

“Everyone was trying to prepare for the WNBA season and trying to think about the bubble and getting in the bubble and that just was not where my head was,” Montgomery said, according to The Undefeated. “That’s kind of how I knew maybe I should play this season.”

Montgomery is just one of the many WNBA players who have taken to the front lines of fighting racial inequality, the Undefeated reported.

Washington Mystics guard Natasha Cloud is also opting out to focus on fighting racial injustice.

“This has been one of the toughest decisions of my career. But, I will be foregoing the 2020 WNBA season,” Cloud said in an Instagram post. “There’s a lot of factors that led to this decision, but the biggest being that I am more than an athlete. I have a responsibility to myself, to my community, and to my future children to fight for something that is much bigger than myself and the game of basketball. I will instead, continue the fight on the front lines for social reform, because until black lives matter, all lives can’t matter. #TogetherWeStand #BLM #illbeback #2021”

The WNBA is planning a 22-game season starting in July at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, McClatchy News reported.

NHL

The National Hockey League announced that 26 players have tested positive for COVID-19 since voluntary workouts began June 8, Sports Illustrated reported.

The NHL said more than 250 players who practiced and worked out at team facilities were tested.

While the league has yet to announce a date to resume the season, it is in the final stages of coming to an accord if “heath and safety protocols and hub cities to host the games can be reached,” Sports Illustrated reports.

NFL

With the NFL less than a month from the scheduled opening of training camps, New Orleans Saints safety and CNN contributor Malcolm Jenkins said he is worried about the league’s return in the midst of a pandemic.

“The NBA is a lot different than the NFL because they can quarantine all of their players, or whoever is going to participate, where we have over 2,000 players, even more coaches and staff,” Jenkins said on CNN. “We can’t do that. So we’ll kind of end up being on this trust system, honor system where we just have to hope guys are social-distancing and things like that.”

Jenkins also noted that “football is a nonessential business and so we don’t need to do it,” and that the risk needs to be eliminated before players feel comfortable returning to the field.