A pair of NBA players, Zion Williamson of the New Orleans Pelicans and Montrezl Harrell of the Los Angeles Clippers, have left the league’s bubble in Orlando due to urgent matters elsewhere. On Tuesday evening, we learned of a third player who needs to depart from the bubble, and unfortunately for the Clippers, it’s yet another member of their roster.
Malika Andrews of ESPN reported that Los Angeles starting point guard Patrick Beverley has to go tend to “an emergency personal matter.” As for whether he’ll be able to return, Andrews reports that is in the cards somewhere down the road.
Clippers guard Patrick Beverley left Orlando on Tuesday night for an emergency personal matter, league sources told ESPN. He intends to rejoin the team in the future.
— Malika Andrews (@malika_andrews) July 22, 2020
Beverley and Harrell aren’t the only Clippers players who aren’t with the team, as both Ivica Zubac and Landry Shamet have yet to join the squad in the bubble.
A source confirmed that Clippers guard Patrick Beverley has left the NBA bubble because of an emergency family matter. @malika_andrews was first. This leaves the Clippers down four players at the moment. They’re currently without Ivica Zubac, Montrezl Harrell and Landry Shamet.
— Andrew Greif (@AndrewGreif) July 22, 2020
The No. 1 priority, of course, is that Beverley and everyone in his family is safe and healthy, so here’s to hoping that whatever issue popped up is resolved. Losing him is a tough blow for the Clippers, which sit in the 2-seed in the Western Conference but are only 1.5 games up on the 3-seed Denver Nuggets. L.A. does have options for offensive initiators — Reggie Jackson has performed admirably since joining the team earlier this season, and while neither Kawhi Leonard nor Lou Williams are point guards, giving them the ball and having them figure something out has worked out well for the Clippers this year.
The Clippers will begin their eight games in the bubble on July 30, when they’ll take on the Los Angeles Lakers.