As someone who’s never had even a remote desire to pay somebody to get naked, I will never understand the allure of strip clubs. That being said, I’m clearly in the minority since they’re very much a thing and rather popular with professional athletes.
In July, Clippers guard Lou Williams wanted some “lemon pepper wings” so damn bad he escaped the NBA bubble to go hit up Magic City in Atlanta. And now we have Washington Football Team quarterback Dwayne Haskins, who had some explaining to do on Tuesday after images surfaced of him partaking in boobs and beer while maskless in a strip club.
That’s probably not the brightest idea considering he’s been playing like ass this season, but more importantly, putting his team at risk of COVID-19 exposure while Washington is in the midst of a playoff hunt is pretty damn stupid—and incredibly selfish. It’s also a blatant violation of the league’s COVID-19 protocols.
Washington said Tuesday that it will handle the matter internally, and Haskins took to Twitter to apologize to a team he’ll probably never play for again.
“I want to publicly apologize for my actions this past Sunday,” he tweeted. “I spoke with Coach Rivera yesterday and took full accountability for putting the team at risk. It was irresponsible and immature of me and I accept full responsibility for my action.”
Not to be outdone, rogue agent James Harden—the same James Harden who skipped part of training camp to go party with Lil Baby and routinely parties in Las Vegas throughout the NBA season—might have his own strip club controversy on his hands.
On Wednesday morning, ESPN’s Tim MacMahon reported that the eight-time All-Star may have violated the NBA’s COVID-19 protocols after a video of Harden maskless at a strip club surfaced.
“If the video circulating on social media is verified to be recent, it is a violation of league’s COVID protocols, which would put Harden’s availability for tonight’s opener in jeopardy,” MacMahon tweeted.
The video is reportedly from a Christmas party this week that was hosted by a Houston-area strip club. League protocols prohibit players from hitting up bars, lounges or clubs, or participating in any social gatherings of more than 15 people. The Rockets and NBA are currently investigating the situation and if it’s discovered that Harden violated protocol, he could be subject to league discipline. Not that Harden gives a shit though, considering he’s doing everything humanly possible to escape the Rockets anyway.
At the very least, I think it’s safe to assume that Harden won’t be playing in Houston’s season opener Wednesday night, and this could be what finally pushes the Rockets to cut their losses and trade The Beard.
So what’s the moral of the story here? Please stay the hell out of strip clubs while we’re in the middle of a global pandemic. But if you absolutely must, social distance by wearing a mask and making it rain with Cash App instead.