LeBron James was cleared to return to the Los Angeles Lakers after missing one game under the NBA’s health and safety protocols.
The league said Thursday that James is not positive for COVID-19 despite a series of tests that produced conflicting results earlier this week. LeBron took to Twitter over those conflicting results.
“Following two negative PCR tests conducted more than 24 hours apart, Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James has cleared the NBA’s Health & Safety Protocols,” the league said in a statement. “James was originally placed in the Protocols on Tuesday, November 30 after a series of tests delivered conflicting results, including an initial positive test that was collected on November 29. Additional testing confirmed that he is not a positive case.
“In accordance with the Protocols, and the consistent testing practice that has been in place since the 2019-20 Season Restart in Orlando, the sample that produced the initial positive test was re-run twice and returned one negative and one positive result on two different PCR instruments. As a result, James underwent additional testing on November 30, with one test returning a negative result and a second test resulting in a clinically inconclusive result.”
Following the Lakers’ loss on Friday night to the Clippers — James was asked about the entire ordeal and he did not mince any words.
“I knew I was going to get cleared because I never, ever felt sick at all,” James said, via ESPN “I just thought it was just handled very poorly.”
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“Usually when you have a positive test, they’ll test you right away to make sure,” James explained. “There was not a follow-up test after my positive test. It was straight to isolation and you’ve been put into protocol. That’s the part that kind of angered me. I had to figure out a way to get home from Sacramento by myself. They wouldn’t allow anyone to travel with me, no security, no anything, when I traveled back from Sacramento.”
James added that he had to put his kids in isolation while he waited for his negative results.
