LeBron James is voicing a new complaint this week, but this time it does not have to do with a foul that a referee called.
The L.A. Lakers star took to Twitter on Thursday to express disagreement with the mask policy at his sons’ Sierra Canyon basketball game.
“I’m sorry but I’m at my boys game and the mask underneath the chin makes ZERO sense to me!!” James wrote.
James was in attendance to watch his two sons, 17-year-old Bronny and 14-year-old Bryce, play. Video from the game showed players on both teams wearing masks under the chin, covering neither the nose nor the mouth.
Sierra Canyon is part of the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF), which follows California Department of Public Health (CDPH) guidance. On Nov. 24, the CDPH released a memo announcing that, during school-based extracurricular activities such as sports, participants are required to wear masks indoors at all times while not actively practicing, conditioning or competing. But even if participants are actively practicing, conditioning or competing in indoor sports, masks are still required “even during heavy exertion, as practicable.”
This “as practicable” language may help explain why players are wearing their masks over the chin while competing as a sort of loophole around the requirement. James failed to make clear whether he believes that masks should not be worn by athletes during competition or whether he believes that they should still be worn but worn properly. But what we do know is that the issue hits close to home for James, especially with his own COVID protocol drama this week.
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