Desperate times call for desperate measures and the NBA, as we’ve witnessed the past few weeks, has exhausted all options amid the rapidly-spreading Omicron variant. With teams losing players en masse to COVID, the NBA has called on reinforcements including 40-year-old Joe Johnson, who the Celtics unearthed from the scrap heap last week.
Healthy bodies have been hard to come by of late with countless teams weathering COVID outbreaks. With eight players in the league’s health and safety protocol (Karl-Anthony Towns, Patrick Beverley, D’Angelo Russell and Anthony Edwards, to name a few), the shorthanded T-Wolves summoned Greg Monroe from the Capital City Go-Go of the NBA’s G League.
The veteran arrived just in time for Monday night’s 8 PM ET tipoff, contributing 11 points, nine rebounds and six assists in a winning effort against his former team, the Boston Celtics. In doing so, Monroe became the 541st player to see the court this season, the most in NBA history, according to ESPN Stats and Info. Prior to Monday night, the 31-year-old hadn’t suited up for an NBA team since a three-game stint with the 76ers in 2019.
With blasts from the past like Darren Collison and Lance Stephenson both inhabiting NBA roster spots, it’s clear the league is doing whatever it can to keep its season on track. The fact we’ve already seen more players this year than in any other (keep in mind, the All-Star break isn’t for another two months) is both concerning and a product of the difficulties sports leagues face during these chaotic times. And while hoops diehards can appreciate the nostalgia provided by Monroe and Johnson, once-great players back in the spotlight after years of irrelevance, it can’t be encouraging the NBA has gone to such desperate lengths to preserve its season amid a global pandemic that has wreaked unprecedented havoc on America and the world at large.
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