There isn't much for NBA players to do when they are on the road. The NBA's stringent COVID protocols have forbidden them to leave their hotels for anything other than basketball-related purposes.
Those will be relaxed a bit in coming weeks, but players still won't be able to do much. Just ask Timberwolves center Naz Reid, who is already over playing video games in his downtime.
"Sometimes you bring your game but … it gets boring," Reid said. "I don't really play my game anymore to be honest."
But these protocols show up on the court in a subtle way — they prohibit player bonding and interaction that would otherwise happen organically, especially on the road.